He became renowned as a surgeon, chemist, architect, lecturer and inventor. Gurney’s inventions famously included, theatrical limelight, as well as, industrially, the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe which he later adapted to create a new form of illumination, the Bude light, a cheap way of producing an intensely bright light which was first trialled in the House of Commons and remained in use in the House for 50 years.   

Limelight was developed through his fairly  arbitrary method of dropping different substances on his blowpipe but this did lead to the theatrical term  ‘in the limelight’.  He also developed a series of steam-powered road vehicles which were an economic failure but he was more successful with his heating appliance, the Gurney Stove.  

In 1820, apparently frustrated with his rural life in Cornwall he moved his family to London where, having trained in medicine in Wadebridge, he worked as a surgeon.  Continuing his fascination with chemistry science he became famous for a series of lectures to the Surrey Institution.

In 1830, Gurney leased a plot of land overlooking Summerleaze Beach in Bude and constructed a new house, Bude Castle, which although slightly extended remains pretty much the same as when it was built.