John Joseph Rawlings

John Joseph Rawlings (1 June 1860 – 4 August 1942) was a British mechanical engineer and inventor of the wall plug, also known from his name as the rawlplug. He was the founder of the Rawlplug manufacturing company.

Biography Rawlings was born in 1860 in Southfields, Wandsworth, London, the eldest son of carman John Rawlings and Sarah Payne. He worked as a whitesmith and later a mechanical engineer. In 1896, he married Millicent Dale, with whom he had a son, Ralph John Rawlings, and daughter, Kathleen Millicent. He retired to Wimbledon, where he died in 1942.

The company went on to develop the Rawlbolt, a fitting with similar function but much greater size and strength.

John Joseph's story was referenced in the Half Man Half Biscuit song "Rawlplugs of Yesteryear" (2025).