Thomas Crapper was born in Thorne, West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1836; the exact date is unknown, but he was baptised on 28 September 1836.

He founded Thomas Crapper & Co in London, a plumbing equipment company. Crapper held nine patents, three of them for toilet improvements such as the floating ballcock. He improved the S-bend plumbing trap in 1880 by inventing the U-bend. The company owned the world’s first bath, toilet and sink showroom in King’s Road.