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1 Symington, William
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 1764 Leadhills, Lanarkshire, Scotlandd. 22 March 1831 Wapping, London, England[br]Scottish pioneer of steam navigation.[br]Symington was the son of the Superintendent of the Mines Company in Lanarkshire, and attended the local school. When he was 22 years old he was sent by Gilbert Meason, Manager of the Wanlockhead mines, to Edinburgh University. In 1779 he was working on the assembly of a Watt engine as an apprentice to his brother, George, and in 1786 he started experiments to modify a Watt engine in order to avoid infringing the separate condenser patent. He sought a patent for his alternative, which was paid for by Meason. He constructed a model steam road carriage which was completed in 1786; it was shown in Edinburgh by Meason, attracting interest but inadequate financial support. It had a horizontal cylinder and was non-condensing. No full-sized engine was ever built but the model secured the interest of Patrick Miller, an Edinburgh banker, who ordered an engine from Symington to drive an experimental boat, 25 ft (7.6 m) long with a dual hull, which performed satisfactorily on Dalswinton Loch in 1788. In the following year Miller ordered a larger engine for a bigger boat which was tried on the Forth \& Clyde Canal in December 1789, the component parts having been made by the Carron Company. The engine worked perfectly but had the effect of breaking the paddle wheels. These were repaired and further trials were successful but Miller lost interest and his experiments lapsed. Symington devoted himself thereafter to building stationary engines. He built other engines for mine pumping at Sanquhar and Leadhills before going further afield. In all, he built over thirty engines, about half of them being rotary. In 1800–1 he designed the engine for a boat for Lord Dundas, the Charlotte Dundas; this was apparently the first boat of that name and sailed on both the Forth and Clyde rivers. A second Charlotte Dundas with a horizontal cylinder was to follow and first sailed in January 1803 for the Forth \& Clyde Canal Company. The speed of the boat was only 2 mph (3 km/h) and much was made by its detractors of the damage said to be caused to the canal banks by its wash. Lord Dundas declined to authorize payment of outstanding accounts; Symington received little reward for his efforts. He died in the house of his son-in-law, Dr Robert Bowie, in Wapping, amidst heated controversy about the true inventor of steam navigation.[br]Further ReadingW.S.Harvey and G.Downs-Rose, 1980, William Symington, Inventor and Engine- Builder, London: Mechanical Engineering Publications.IMcN -
2 Ports and shipping
See also: INDEX BY SUBJECT AREA[br]Armstrong, Sir William GeorgeEgerton, FrancisLi GaoPeter the GreatShen GuaStanhope, Charles -
3 Miller, Patrick
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 1731 Glasgow, Scotlandd. 9 December 1815 Dalswinton, Dumfriesshire, Scotland[br]Scottish merchant and banker, early experimenter in powered navigation and in ship form.[br]In his own words, Patrick Miller was "without a sixpence" in his early youth; this is difficult to prove one way or another as he ended his life as Director and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Scotland. One thing is clear however, that from his earliest days, in common with most of his counterparts of the late eighteenth century, he was interested in experimental and applied science. Having acquired a substantial income from other sources, Miller was able to indulge his interest in ships and engineering. His first important vessel was the trimaran Edinburgh, designed by him and launched at Leith in 1786. Propulsion was man-powered using paddle wheels positioned in the spaces between the outer and central hulls. This led to several trials of similar craft on the Forth in the 1780s, and ultimately to the celebrated Dalswinton Loch trials. In 1785 Miller had purchased the Dumfriesshire estate of Dalswinton and commenced a series of experiments on agricultural development and other matters. With the help of William Symington he built a double-hull steamship with internal paddle wheels which was tested on the Loch in 1788. The 7.6 m (25 ft) long ship travelled at 5 mph (8 km/h) on her trials, and according to unsubstantiated tradition carried a group of well-known people including the poet Robert Burns (1759–1796).Miller carried out many more important experiments and in 1796 obtained a patent for the design of shallow-drafted ships able to carry substantial cargo on flat bottoms. His main achievement may have been to stimulate William Symington, who at the beginning of the nineteenth century went on to design and build two of the world's first important steamships, each named Charlotte Dundas, for service on the Forth and Clyde Canal.[br]Further ReadingH.Philip Spratt, 1958, The Birth of the Steamboat, London: Griffiths. W.S.Harvey and G.Downs-Rose, 1980, William Symington, Inventor and EngineBuilder, London: Northgate.F.M.Walker, 1984, Song of the Clyde. A History of Clyde Shipbuilding, Cambridge: PSL.FMW -
4 Bell, Henry
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 1767 Torphichen Mill, near Linlithgow, Scotlandd. 1830 Helensburgh, Scotland[br]Scottish projector of the first steamboat service in Europe.[br]The son of Patrick Bell, a millwright, Henry had two sisters and an elder brother and was educated at the village school. When he was 9 years old Henry was sent to lodge in Falkirk with an uncle and aunt of his mother's so that he could attend the school there. At the age of 12 he left school and agreed to become a mason with a relative. In 1783, after only three years, he was bound apprentice to his Uncle Henry, a millwright at Jay Mill. He stayed there for a further three years and then, in 1786, joined the firm of Shaw \& Hart, shipbuilders of Borrowstoneness. These were to be the builders of William Symington's hull for the Charlotte Dundas. He also spent twelve months with Mr James Inglis, an engineer of Bellshill, Lanarkshire, and then went to London to gain experience, working for the famous John Rennie for some eighteen months. By 1790 he was back in Glasgow, and a year later he took a partner, James Paterson, into his new business of builder and contractor, based in the Trongate. He later referred to himself as "architect", and his partnership with Paterson lasted seven years. He is said to have invented a discharging machine for calico printing, as well as a steam dredger for clearing the River Clyde.The Baths Hotel was opened in Helensburgh in 1808, with the hotel-keeper, who was also the first provost of the town, being none other than Henry Bell. It has been suggested that Bell was also the builder of the hotel and this seems very likely. Bell installed a steam engine for pumping sea water out of the Clyde and into the baths, and at first ran a coach service to bring customers from Glasgow three days a week. The driver was his brother Tom. The coach was replaced by the Comet steamboat in 1812.While Henry was busy with his provost's duties and making arrangements for the building of his steamboat, his wife Margaret, née Young, whom he married in March 1794, occupied herself with the management of the Baths Hotel. Bell did not himself manufacture, but supervised the work of experts: John and Charles Wood of Port Glasgow, builders of the 43ft 6 in. (13.25 m)-long hull of the Comet; David Napier of Howard Street Foundry for the boiler and other castings; and John Robertson of Dempster Street, who had previously supplied a small engine for pumping water to the baths at the hotel in Helensburgh, for the 3 hp engine. The first trials of the finished ship were held on 24 July 1812, when she was launched from Wood's yard. A regular service was advertised in the Glasgow Chronicle on 5 August and was the first in Europe, preceded only by that of Robert Fulton in the USA. The Comet continued to run until 1820, when it was wrecked.Bell received little reward for his promotion of steam navigation, merely small pensions from the Clyde trustees and others. He was buried at the parish church of Rhu.[br]Further ReadingEdward Morris, 1844, Life of Henry Bell.Henry Bell, 1813, Applying Steam Engines to Vessels.IMcN
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Symington, William — born October 1763, Leadhills, Lanarkshire, Scot. died March 22, 1831, London, Eng. British engineer. Educated for the ministry, he became a mechanic instead. He created a working model of a steam driven road carriage in 1786 and first used steam… … Universalium
Symington, (William) Stuart — (1901 1988) Stuart Symington was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, but his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he went to school. He enlisted in the military at the age of 17 and after the war went to Yale but left in 1923 without… … Historical Dictionary of the Roosevelt–Truman Era
Symington, William — (Oct. 1763, Leadhills, Lanarkshire, Escocia–22 mar. 1831, Londres, Inglaterra). Ingeniero británico. Educado para el clero protestante, prefirió hacerse mecánico. En 1786 creó un modelo operacional de un carruaje propulsado a vapor y fue el… … Enciclopedia Universal
Symington, (William) Stuart — born June 26, 1901, Amherst, Mass., U.S. died Dec. 14, 1988, New Canaan, Conn. U.S. politician. He served in World War I, attended Yale University (1919–23), and entered politics in 1945 as chairman of the Surplus Property Board in the… … Universalium
Symington, (William) Stuart — (26 jun. 1901, Amherst, Mass., EE.UU.–14 dic. 1988, Nueva Canaán, Conn.). Político estadounidense. Prestó servicios en la primera guerra mundial, asistió a la Universidad de Yale (1919–23), y entró en la carrera política en 1945, como presidente… … Enciclopedia Universal
SYMINGTON — UNITED KINGDOM (see also List of Individuals) .10.1764 Leadhills/UK 22.3.1831 London/UK William Symington attended courses at Edinburgh University. In 1786 he started experiments to modify the Watt machine to avoid infringing the separate… … Hydraulicians in Europe 1800-2000
William — /wil yeuhm/, n. 1. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter W. 2. a male given name: from Germanic words meaning will and helmet. * * * (as used in expressions) Huddie William Ledbetter Aberhart William George William… … Universalium
William Symington — (1764–1831) was a Scottish engineer and inventor, and the builder of the first practical steamboat.Symington was born in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire, Scotland to a family he described as being respectable but not wealthy. His father worked as a… … Wikipedia
William Symington — (* Oktober 1763 in Leadhills, Schottland; † 22. März 1831 in London)[1] war ein schottischer Ingenieur, der Entwickler des ersten praktikablen Dampfboots, der Charlotte Dundas (1803). Symington, vor 1831 Symington war der Sohn eine … Deutsch Wikipedia
Symington — may refer to:People*J. Fife Symington Jr. (1910 2007), American diplomat *Fife Symington III (b. 1945), American politician; Governor of Arizona *Gaye Symington (b. 1954), American politician, Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives… … Wikipedia
Symington — ist ein schottischer Familienname, der auf einen gleichnamigen Ort in Ayrshire zurückgeht (Symington ist abgeleitet von Simon s Town; dt. Simons Stadt). Symington ist der Name folgender Personen: James Harvey Symington (1913–1987), Führer der… … Deutsch Wikipedia
