From the picture source website:
"The forerunner of the bicycle, the 'Hobby' or 'Dandy Horse' was invented by the German Baron Karl von Drais in France in 1817. It was introduced to England by Denis Johnson, who described it as a 'Pedestrian Curricle' and started a school where prospective purchasers could learn how to ride the machine. An inscription explains how it works; 'The rider is conveniently seated on the small square board and leans forward against a well-padded cushion...' Hobby horses had no pedals or brakes, but were propelled and slowed by the rider pushing or dragging on the ground with his or her feet."
While on the subject of memorials to the development of the bicycle - there is a plaque in Scotland to a blacksmith, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, the first person to put pedals on a bicycle, in 1840. It's at Courthill near Penpoint about 14 miles north of Dumfries. Sadly there are doubts about the veracity of this claim.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Bicycle - hobby horse
Commemorated ati
Hobby-horse bicycle
City of Westminster Denis Johnson (c.1760 - 1833) from his workshop on this ...
Other Subjects
Captain Alexander Ross Clarke
Surveyor. Born Reading. Served in Canada and on his return worked on the ordnance survey in Southampton. Died Reigate. the picture source has a bio.
Sir Andrew Ramsay
Born Glasgow. Geologist. In 1851 first Chair of Geology at the School of Mines (later Imperial College). Specialised in the geology of Arran and Wales. Died at home in Anglesey. Sir William Rams...
Antoine Lavoisier
Born in Paris to a family of nobility. Considered "the father of modern chemistry", by the French anyway, who no doubt would also claim that he discovered oxygen, when we all know that was Priestl...
First Electric Telegraph
Telegraphic messages were first sent successfully by Sir Francis Ronalds using an eight mile long grid in his back garden in Hammersmith. He tried to interest the Admiralty in his invention, but th...
Sir John Lubbock
Banker, politician and scientific writer. Born at 29 Eaton Place. He went into his father's banking business at the age of 14 and became a partner in 1856. Entered parliament in 1870, and succeeded...