Cornishman Michael Loam, engineer of Consolidated Mines, was one of the first to design a man-engine that could use the reciprocating motion of pump rods in engine shafts. In 1829 he tried to sell his invention but it was rejected without trial.

In 1834 a prize was offered by the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society in Falmouth - for the best improvement in the method of ascending and descending mines; miners had long suffered the arduous and time consuming task of climbing ladders to get to and from their workplace. The prize was won by Michael Loam and his Man-Engine in 1835, two years after a similar machine (known as a Fahrkunst) was independently developed and installed in the Harz mining district in Germany.

It was not until 1842 that the first engine was installed in Cornwall at Tresavean Mine in Lanner near Redruth. By 1864 eight man engines were in use in Cornwall. It was a successful design but initial cost combined with the crookedness of Cornish shafts, which frequently changed angle to follow the lode, meant that many mines did not adopt the device. These crooked shafts, due to lack of investment, were used well into the twentieth century until vertical shafts began to replace them.