-
1 Ayrshire
The pure wool twill blankets made in Ayrshire. -
2 Blanket (Ayrshire)
A blanket in 2 X 2 twill, milled, but not raised. Woven from all-wool yams (see Blankets)Dictionary of the English textile terms > Blanket (Ayrshire)
-
3 McAdam, John Loudon
[br]b. 21 September 1756 Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotlandd. 26 November 1836 Moffat, Dumfriesshire, Scotland[br]Scottish road builder, inventor of the macadam road surface.[br]McAdam was the son of one of the founder of the first bank in Ayr. As an infant, he nearly died in a fire which destroyed the family's house of Laywyne, in Carsphairn parish; the family then moved to Blairquhan, near Straiton. Thence he went to the parish school in Maybole, where he is said to have made a model section of a local road. In 1770, when his father died, he was sent to America where he was brought up by an uncle who was a merchant in New York. He stayed in America until the close of the revolution, becoming an agent for the sale of prizes and managing to amass a considerable fortune. He returned to Scotland where he settled at Sauchrie in Ayrshire. There he was a magistrate, Deputy-Lieutenant of the county and a road trustee, spending thirteen years there. In 1798 he moved to Falmouth in Devon, England, on his appointment as agent for revictualling of the Royal Navy in western ports.He continued the series of experiments started in Ayrshire on the construction of roads. From these he concluded that a road should be built on a raised foundation with drains formed on either side, and should be composed of a number of layers of hard stone broken into angular fragments of roughly cubical shape; the bottom layer would be larger rocks, with layers of progressively smaller rocks above, all bound together with fine gravel. This would become compacted and almost impermeable to water by the action of the traffic passing over it. In 1815 he was appointed Surveyor-General of Bristol's roads and put his theories to the test.In 1823 a Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to consider the use of "macadamized" roads in larger towns; McAdam gave evidence to this committee, and it voted to give him £10,000 for his past work. In 1827 he was appointed Surveyor-General of Roads and moved to Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. From there he made yearly visits to Scotland and it was while returning from one of these that he died, at Moffat in the Scottish Borders. He had married twice, both times to American women; his first wife was the mother of all seven of his children.McAdam's method of road construction was much cheaper than that of Thomas Telford, and did much to ease travel and communications; it was therefore adopted by the majority of Turnpike Trusts in Britain, and the macadamization process quickly spread to other countries.[br]Bibliography1819. A Practical Essay on the Scientific Repair and Preservation of Roads.1820. Present State of Road-Making.Further ReadingR.Devereux, 1936, John Loudon McAdam: A Chapter from the History of Highways, London: Oxford University Press.IMcN -
4 Fife, William
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 15 June 1857 Fairlie, Scotlandd. 11 August 1944 Fairlie, Scotland[br]Scottish naval architect and designer of sailing yachts of legendary beauty and performance.[br]Following his education at Brisbane Academy in Largs, William Fife (the third generation of the name) became apprenticed at the age of 14 to the already famous yacht-building yard owned by his family at Fairlie in Ayrshire. On completion of his apprenticeship, he joined the Paisley shipbuilders John Fullerton \& Co. to gain experience in iron shipbuilding before going on as Manager to the Marquis of Ailsa's Culzean Steam Launch and Yacht Works. Initially the works was sited below the famous castle at Culzean, but some years later it moved a few miles along the Ayrshire Coast to Maidens. The Culzean Company was wound up in 1887 and Fife then returned to the family yard, where he remained for the rest of his working life. Many outstanding yachts were the product of his hours on the drawing board, including auxiliary sailing cruisers, motor yachts and well-known racing craft. The most outstanding designs were for two of Sir Thomas Lipton's challengers for the America's Cup: Shamrock I and Shamrock III. The latter yacht was tested at the Ship Model Experiment Tank owned by Denny of Dumbarton before being built at their Leven Shipyard in 1903. Shamrock III may have been one of the earliest America's Cup yachts to have been designed with a high level of scientific input. The hull construction was unusual for the early years of the twentieth century, being of alloy steel with decks of aluminium.William Fife was decorated for his service to shipbuilding during the First World War. With the onset of the Great Depression the shipyard's output slowed, and in the 1930s it was sold to other interests; this was the end of the 120-year Fife dynasty.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsOBE c.1919.FMW -
5 Blanket
Plain or twill weave cotton cloths, 60-in. and upwards in width and 80-in, and upwards in length. Made from coarse yams. Very coarse reeds are used. A soft spun coarse weft from 1's to 8's count is usual; sometimes a " bump " yam weft. Special shuttles are required to take the large or " jumbo " cops. Coloured weft headings are put in at each end. The fabrics are raised on both sides by passing several times through the raising machine. ———————— Thomas Blanket, of Bristol, first produced these in the reign of Edward III. The most popular makes are: - Irish - Size 84-in. X 95-in. in a 5-lb. weight. Yorkshire - 80-in. X 100-in, in all weights, woven plain, and have a dense pile when finished. Witney - This term can only be applied to blankets made in Witney. They resemble Yorkshire blankets. Ayrshire - Woven 2 X 2 twill with a dark-blue border. Bath (or Cheviot) - Woven 2 X 2 twill with light-blue borders and heavily raised. These fabrics are all manufactured from wool yams with a soft weft, heavily milled. Each style may be bordered or all plain. The qualities are numerous and weights vary from about 2-lb. up to 7-lb. or 8-lb. per blanket. -
6 Bacon, Francis Thomas
SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace[br]b. 21 December 1904 Billericay, Englandd. 24 May 1992 Little Shelford, Cambridge, England[br]English mechanical engineer, a pioneer in the modern phase of fuel-cell development.[br]After receiving his education at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, Bacon served with C.A. Parsons at Newcastle upon Tyne from 1925 to 1940. From 1946 to 1956 he carried out research on Hydrox fuel cells at Cambridge University and was a consultant on fuel-cell design to a number of organizations throughout the rest of his life.Sir William Grove was the first to observe that when oxygen and hydrogen were supplied to platinum electrodes immersed in sulphuric acid a current was produced in an external circuit, but he did not envisage this as a practical source of electrical energy. In the 1930s Bacon started work to develop a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell that operated at moderate temperatures and pressures using an alkaline electrolyte. In 1940 he was appointed to a post at King's College, London, and there, with the support of the Admiralty, he started full-time experimental work on fuel cells. His brief was to produce a power source for the propulsion of submarines. The following year he was posted as a temporary experimental officer to the Anti-Submarine Experimental Establishment at Fairlie, Ayrshire, and he remained there until the end of the Second World War.In 1946 he joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at Cambridge, receiving a small amount of money from the Electrical Research Association. Backing came six years later from the National Research and Development Corporation (NRDC), the development of the fuel cell being transferred to Marshalls of Cambridge, where Bacon was appointed Consultant.By 1959, after almost twenty years of individual effort, he was able to demonstrate a 6 kW (8 hp) power unit capable of driving a small truck. Bacon appreciated that when substantial power was required over long periods the hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell associated with high-pressure gas storage would be more compact than conventional secondary batteries.The development of the fuel-cell system pioneered by Bacon was stimulated by a particular need for a compact, lightweight source of power in the United States space programme. Electro-chemical generators using hydrogen-oxygen cells were chosen to provide the main supplies on the Apollo spacecraft for landing on the surface of the moon in 1969. An added advantage of the cells was that they simultaneously provided water. NRDC was largely responsible for the forma-tion of Energy Conversion Ltd, a company that was set up to exploit Bacon's patents and to manufacture fuel cells, and which was supported by British Ropes Ltd, British Petroleum and Guest, Keen \& Nettlefold Ltd at Basingstoke. Bacon was their full-time consultant. In 1971 Energy Conversion's operation was moved to the UK Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, as Fuel Cells Ltd. Bacon remained with them until he retired in 1973.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsOBE 1967. FRS 1972. Royal Society S.G. Brown Medal 1965. Royal Aeronautical Society British Silver Medal 1969.Bibliography27 February 1952, British patent no. 667,298 (hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell). 1963, contribution in W.Mitchell (ed.), Fuel Cells, New York, pp. 130–92.1965, contribution in B.S.Baker (ed.), Hydrocarbon Fuel Cell Technology, New York, pp. 1–7.Further ReadingObituary, 1992, Daily Telegraph (8 June).A.McDougal, 1976, Fuel Cells, London (makes an acknowledgement of Bacon's contribution to the design and application of fuel cells).D.P.Gregory, 1972, Fuel Cells, London (a concise introduction to fuel-cell technology).GW -
7 Coade, Eleanor
SUBJECT AREA: Architecture and building[br]b. 24 June 1733 Exeter, Devon, Englandd. 18 November 1821 Camberwell, London, England[br]English proprietor of the Coade Factory, making artificial stone.[br]Born Elinor Coade, she never married but adopted, as was customary in business in the eighteenth century, the courtesy title of Mrs. Following the bankruptcy and death of her father, George Coade, in Exeter, Eleanor and her mother (also called Eleanor) moved to London and founded the works at Lambeth, South London, in 1769 that later became famous as the Coade factory. The factory was located at King's Arms Stairs, Narrow Wall. During the eighteenth century, several attempts had been made in other businesses to manufacture a durable, malleable artificial stone that would be acceptable to architects for decorative use. These substances were not very successful, but Coade stone was different. Although stories are legion about the secret formula supposedly used in this artificial stone, modern methods have established the exact formula.Coade stone was a stoneware ceramic material fired in a kiln. The body was remarkable in that it shrank only 8 per cent in drying and firing: this was achieved by using a combination of china clay, sand, crushed glass and grog (i.e. crushed and ground, previously fired stoneware). The Coade formula thus included a considerable proportion of material that, having been fired once already, was unshrinkable. Mrs Coade's name for the firm, Coade's Lithodipyra Terra-Cotta or Artificial Stone Manufactory (where "Lithodipyra" is a term derived from three Greek words meaning "stone", "twice" and "fire"), made reference to the custom of including such material (such as in Josiah Wedgwood's basalt and jasper ware). The especially low rate of shrinkage rendered the material ideal for making extra-life-size statuary, and large architectural, decorative features to be incorporated into stone buildings.Coade stone was widely used for such purposes by leading architects in Britain and Ireland from the 1770s until the 1830s, including Robert Adam, Sir Charles Barry, Sir William Chambers, Sir John Soane, John Nash and James Wyatt. Some architects introduced the material abroad, as far as, for example, Charles Bulfinch's United States Bank in Boston, Massachusetts, and Charles Cameron's redecoration for the Empress Catherine of the great palace Tsarkoe Selo (now Pushkin), near St Petersburg. The material so resembles stone that it is often mistaken for it, but it is so hard and resistant to weather that it retains sharpness of detail much longer than the natural substance. The many famous British buildings where Coade stone was used include the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, Carlton House and the Sir John Soane Museum (all of which are located in London), St George's Chapel at Windsor, Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, and Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland.Apart from the qualities of the material, the Coade firm established a high reputation for the equally fine quality of its classical statuary. Mrs Coade employed excellent craftsmen such as the sculptor John Bacon (1740–99), whose work was mass-produced by the use of moulds. One famous example which was widely reproduced was the female caryatid from the south porch of the Erechtheion on the acropolis of Athens. A drawing of this had appeared in the second edition of Stuart and Revett's Antiquities of Athens in 1789, and many copies were made from the original Coade model; Soane used them more than once, for example on the Bank of England and his own houses in London.Eleanor Coade was a remarkable woman, and was important and influential on the neo-classical scene. She had close and amicable relations with leading architects of the day, notably Robert Adam and James Wyatt. The Coade factory was enlarged and altered over the years, but the site was finally cleared during 1949–50 in preparation for the establishment of the 1951 Festival of Britain.[br]Further ReadingA.Kelly, 1990, Mrs Coade's Stone, pub. in conjunction with the Georgian Group (an interesting, carefully written history; includes a detailed appendix on architects who used Coade stone and buildings where surviving work may be seen).DY -
8 Dale, David
SUBJECT AREA: Textiles[br]b. 6 January 1739 Stewarton, Ayrshire, Scotlandd. 17 March 1806 Glasgow, Scotland[br]Scottish developer of a large textile business in find around Glasgow, including the cotton-spinning mills at New Lanark.[br]David Dale, the son of a grocer, began his working life by herding cattle. His connection with the textile industry started when he was apprenticed to a Paisley weaver. After this he travelled the country buying home-spun linen yarns, which he sold in Glasgow. At about the age of 24 he settled in Glasgow as Clerk to a silk merchant. He then started a business importing fine yarns from France and Holland for weaving good-quality cloths such as cambrics. Dale was to become one of the pre-eminent yarn dealers in Scotland. In 1778 he acquired the first cotton-spinning mill built in Scotland by an English company at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. In 1784 he met Richard Arkwright, who was touring Scotland, and together they visited the Falls of the Clyde near the town of Lanark. Arkwright immediately recognized the potential of the site for driving water-powered mills. Dale acquired part of the area from Lord Braxfield and in 1785 began to build his first mill there in partnership with Arkwright. The association with Arkwright soon ceased, however, and by c.1795 Dale had erected four mills. Because the location of the mills was remote, he built houses for the workers and then employed pauper children brought from the slums of Edinburgh and Glasgow; at one time there were over 400 of them. Dale's attitude to his workers was benevolent and humane. He tried to provide reasonable working conditions and the mills were well designed with a large workshop in which machinery was constructed. Dale was also a partner in mills at Catrine, Newton Stewart, Spinningdale in Sutherlandshire and some others. In 1785 he established the first Turkey red dye works in Scotland and was in partnership with George Macintosh, the father of Charles Macintosh. Dale manufactured cloth in Glasgow and from 1783 was Agent for the Royal Bank of Scotland, a lucrative position. In 1799 he was persuaded by Robert Owen to sell the New Lanark mills for £60,000 to a Manchester partnership which made Owen the Manager. Owen had married Dale's daughter, Anne Caroline, in 1799. Possibly due in part to poor health, Dale retired in 1800 to Rosebank near Glasgow, having made a large fortune. In 1770 he had withdrawn from the established Church of Scotland and founded a new one called the "Old Independents". He visited the various branches of this Church, as well as convicts in Bridewell prison, to preach. He was also a great benefactor to the poor in Glasgow. He had a taste for music and sang old Scottish songs with great gusto.[br]Further ReadingDictionary of National Biography.R.Owen, 1857, The Life of Robert Owen, written by himself, London (mentions Dale).Through his association with New Lanark and Robert Owen, details about Dale may be found in J.Butt (ed.), 1971, Robert Owen, Prince of Cotton Spinners, Newton Abbot; S.Pollard and J.Salt (eds), 1971, Robert Owen, Prophet of the Poor: essays in honour of the two-hundredth anniversary of his birth, London.RLH -
9 Dunlop, John Boyd
SUBJECT AREA: Land transport[br]b. 5 February 1840 Dreghorn, Ayrshire, Scotlandd. 23 October 1921 Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland[br]Scottish inventor and pioneer of the pneumatic tyre.[br]Reared in an agricultural community, Dunlop became a qualified veterinary surgeon and practised successfully in Edinburgh and then in Belfast when he moved there in 1867. In October 1887, Dunlop's 9-year-old son complained of the rough ride he experienced with his tricycle over the cobbled streets of Belfast. Dunlop devised and fitted rubber air tubes, held on to a wooden ring by tacking a linen covering which he fixed around the wheels of the tricycle. A marked improvement in riding quality was noted. After further development, a new tricycle was ordered, with the new airtube wheels. This was so successful that Dunlop applied for a patent on 23 July 1889, granted on 7 December. With tyres made in Edinburgh to his specification, bicycles were manufactured by Edlin \& Co. of Belfast and put on sale complete with pneumatic tyres. The successful performance of a racing bicycle thus equipped inspired an unsuccessful competitor, William Harvey de Cros, who had used a solid-tyred machine, to take an interest in Dunlop's invention. With Dunlop, he refloated a company in Dublin, the Pneumatic Tyre \& Booth's Cycle Agency. Dunlop made over his patents, for the tyre, valves, rims and fixing methods, to Du Cros and took shares in the company. Although he was involved in it for many years, it was Du Cros who steered the company through several struggles to success.The pneumatic tyre revolutionized cycling and made possible the success of the motor vehicle, although Dunlop did not profit greatly from his invention. After the sale of the company in 1896, to E.T.Hooley for $3 million, he took no further part in the development of the pneumatic tyre. The company went on to become the great Dunlop Rubber Company.[br]Further ReadingJ.McClintock, 1923, History of the Pneumatic Tyre, Belfast (written by Dunlop's daughter, who based the book on her father's reminiscences).LRD -
10 Mavor, Henry Alexander
[br]b. 1858 Stranraer, Scotlandd. 16 July 1915 Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland[br]Scottish engineer who pioneered the use of electricity for lighting, power and the propulsion of ships.[br]Mavor came from a distinguished Scottish family with connections in medicine, industry and the arts. On completion of his education at Glasgow University, he joined R.J.Crompton \& Co.; then in 1883, along with William C.Muir, he established the Glasgow firm which later became well known as Mavor and Coulson. It pioneered the supply of electricity to public undertakings and equipped the first two generating stations in Scotland. Mavor and his fellow directors appreciated the potential demand by industry in Glasgow for electricity. Two industries were especially well served; first, the coal-mines, where electric lighting and power transformed efficiency and safety beyond recognition; and second, marine engineering. Here Mavor recognized the importance of the variable-speed motor in working with marine propellers which have a tighter range of efficient working speeds. In 1911 he built a 50 ft (15 m) motor launch, appropriately named Electric Arc, at Dumbarton and fitted it with an alternating-current motor driven by a petrol engine and dynamo. Within two years British shipyards were building electrically powered ships, and by the beginning of the First World War the United States Navy had a 20,000-ton collier with this new form of propulsion.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsVice-President, Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland 1894–6.BibliographyMavor published several papers on electric power supply, distribution and the use of electricity for marine purposes in the Transactions of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland between the years 1890 and 1912.Further ReadingMavor and Coulson Ltd, 1911, Electric Propulsion of Ships, Glasgow.FMW -
11 Murdock (Murdoch), William
[br]b. 21 August 1754 Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotlandd. 15 November 1839 Handsworth, Birmingham, England[br]Scottish engineer and inventor, pioneer in coal-gas production.[br]He was the third child and the eldest of three boys born to John Murdoch and Anna Bruce. His father, a millwright and joiner, spelled his name Murdock on moving to England. He was educated for some years at Old Cumnock Parish School and in 1777, with his father, he built a "wooden horse", supposed to have been a form of cycle. In 1777 he set out for the Soho manufactory of Boulton \& Watt, where he quickly found employment, Boulton supposedly being impressed by the lad's hat. This was oval and made of wood, and young William had turned it himself on a lathe of his own manufacture. Murdock quickly became Boulton \& Watt's representative in Cornwall, where there was a flourishing demand for steam-engines. He lived at Redruth during this period.It is said that a number of the inventions generally ascribed to James Watt are in fact as much due to Murdock as to Watt. Examples are the piston and slide valve and the sun-and-planet gearing. A number of other inventions are attributed to Murdock alone: typical of these is the oscillating cylinder engine which obviated the need for an overhead beam.In about 1784 he planned a steam-driven road carriage of which he made a working model. He also planned a high-pressure non-condensing engine. The model carriage was demonstrated before Murdock's friends and travelled at a speed of 6–8 mph (10–13 km/h). Boulton and Watt were both antagonistic to their employees' developing independent inventions, and when in 1786 Murdock set out with his model for the Patent Office, having received no reply to a letter he had sent to Watt, Boulton intercepted him on the open road near Exeter and dissuaded him from going any further.In 1785 he married Mary Painter, daughter of a mine captain. She bore him four children, two of whom died in infancy, those surviving eventually joining their father at the Soho Works. Murdock was a great believer in pneumatic power: he had a pneumatic bell-push at Sycamore House, his home near Soho. The pattern-makers lathe at the Soho Works worked for thirty-five years from an air motor. He also conceived the idea of a vacuum piston engine to exhaust a pipe, later developed by the London Pneumatic Despatch Company's railway and the forerunner of the atmospheric railway.Another field in which Murdock was a pioneer was the gas industry. In 1791, in Redruth, he was experimenting with different feedstocks in his home-cum-office in Cross Street: of wood, peat and coal, he preferred the last. He designed and built in the backyard of his house a prototype generator, washer, storage and distribution plant, and publicized the efficiency of coal gas as an illuminant by using it to light his own home. In 1794 or 1795 he informed Boulton and Watt of his experimental work and of its success, suggesting that a patent should be applied for. James Watt Junior was now in the firm and was against patenting the idea since they had had so much trouble with previous patents and had been involved in so much litigation. He refused Murdock's request and for a short time Murdock left the firm to go home to his father's mill. Boulton \& Watt soon recognized the loss of a valuable servant and, in a short time, he was again employed at Soho, now as Engineer and Superintendent at the increased salary of £300 per year plus a 1 per cent commission. From this income, he left £14,000 when he died in 1839.In 1798 the workshops of Boulton and Watt were permanently lit by gas, starting with the foundry building. The 180 ft (55 m) façade of the Soho works was illuminated by gas for the Peace of Paris in June 1814. By 1804, Murdock had brought his apparatus to a point where Boulton \& Watt were able to canvas for orders. Murdock continued with the company after the death of James Watt in 1819, but retired in 1830 and continued to live at Sycamore House, Handsworth, near Birmingham.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsRoyal Society Rumford Gold Medal 1808.Further ReadingS.Smiles, 1861, Lives of the Engineers, Vol. IV: Boulton and Watt, London: John Murray.H.W.Dickinson and R.Jenkins, 1927, James Watt and the Steam Engine, Oxford: Clarendon Press.J.A.McCash, 1966, "William Murdoch. Faithful servant" in E.G.Semler (ed.), The Great Masters. Engineering Heritage, Vol. II, London: Institution of Mechanical Engineers/Heinemann.IMcNBiographical history of technology > Murdock (Murdoch), William
-
12 Smith, J.
SUBJECT AREA: Textiles[br]fl. 1830s Scotland[br]Scottish inventor of the first endless chain of flats for carding.[br]Carding by hand required a pair of hand cards. The lump of tangled fibres was teased out by pulling one card across the other to even out the fibres and transfer them onto one of the cards from which they could be rolled up into a rollag or slubbing. When Arkwright began to use cylinder cards, the fibres were teased out as they passed from one cylinder to the next. In order to obtain a greater carding area, he soon introduced smaller cylinders and placed strips of flat card above the periphery of the main cylinder. These became clogged with short fibres and dirt, so they had to be lifted off and cleaned or "stripped" at intervals. The first to invent a self-stripping card was Archibald Buchanan, at the Catrine mills in Ayrshire, with his patent in 1823. In his arrangement each flat was turned upside down and stripped by a rotary brush. This was improved by Smith in 1834 and patented in the same year. Smith fixed the flats on an endless chain so that they travelled around the periphery of the top of the main cylinder. Just after the point where they left the cylinder, Smith placed a rotary brush and a comb to clear the brush. In this way each flat in turn was properly and regularly cleaned.Smith was an able mechanic and Managing Partner of the Deanston mills in Scotland. He visited Manchester, where he was warmly received on the introduction of his machine there at about the same time as he patented it in Scotland. The carding engine he designed was complex, for he arranged a double feed to obtain greater production. While this part of his patent was not developed, his chain or endless flats became the basis used in later cotton carding engines. He took out at least half a dozen other patents for textile machinery. These included two in 1834, the first for a self-acting mule and the second with J.C. Dyer for improvements to winding on to spools. There were further spinning patents in 1839 and 1844 and more for preparatory machinery including carding in 1841 and 1842. He was also interested in agriculture and invented a subsoil plough and other useful things.[br]Bibliography1834, British patent no. 6,560 (self-stripping card). 1834, British patent no. 656 (self-acting mule). 1839, British patent no. 8,054.1841, British patent no. 8,796 (carding machine). 1842, British patent no. 9,313 (carding machine).1844, British patent no. 10,080.Further ReadingE.Leigh, 1875, The Science of Modern Cotton Spinning Manchester (provides a good account of Smith's carding engine).W.English, 1969, The Textile Industry, London (covers the development of the carding engine).RLH -
13 Tennant, Charles
[br]b. 3 May 1768 Ochiltree, Ayrshire, Scotlandd. 1 October 1838 Glasgow, Scotland[br]Scottish inventor of bleaching powder.[br]After education at the local school, Tennant went to Kilbachan to learn the manufacture of silk. He then went on to Wellmeadow, where he acquired a knowledge of the old bleaching process, which enabled him to establish his own bleachfield at Darnly. The process consisted of boiling the fabric in weak alkali and then laying it flat on the ground to expose it to sun and air for several months. This process, expensive in time and space, would have formed an intolerable bottleneck in the rapidly expanding textile industry, but a new method was on the way. The French chemist Berthollet demonstrated in 1786 the use of chlorine as a bleaching agent and James Watt learned of this while on a visit to Paris. On his return to Glasgow, Watt passed details of the new process on to Tennant, who set about devising his own version of it. First he obtained a bleaching liquor by passing chlorine through a stirred mixture of lime and water. He was granted a patent for this process in 1798, but it was promptly infringed by bleachers in Lancashire. Tennant's efforts to enforce the patent were unsuccessful as it was alleged that others had employed a similar process some years previously. Nevertheless, the Lancashire bleachers had the good grace to present Tennant with a service of plate in recognition of the benefits he had brought to the industry.In 1799 Tennant improved on his process by substituting dry slaked lime for the liquid, to form bleaching powder. This was patented the same year and proved to be a vital element in the advance of the textile industry. The following year, Tennant established his chemical plant at St Roll ox, outside Glasgow, to manufacture bleaching powder and alkali substances. The plant prospered and became for a time the largest chemical works in Europe.[br]Further ReadingL.F.Haber, 1958, The Chemical Industry During the Nineteenth Century, London: Oxford University Press.F.S.Taylor, 1957, A History of Industrial Chemistry, London: Heinemann.Walker, 1862, Memoirs of Distinguished Men of Science of Great Britain Living in 1807– 1808, London, p. 186.LRD
См. также в других словарях:
Ayrshire — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Situación geográfica de Ayrshire, Escocia. Ayrshire (Siorrachd Inbhir Àir en gaélico) es uno de los condados tradicionales de Escocia, situado en la zona suroeste del país. El condado de Ayrshire tiene como capital a … Wikipedia Español
Ayrshire — AYRSHIRE, an extensive county, on the western coast of Scotland, bounded on the north by Renfrewshire, on the east by the counties of Lanark and Dumfries, on the south by the stewartry of Kirkcudbright and Wigtonshire, and on the west by the… … A Topographical dictionary of Scotland
Ayrshire — Ayrshire, IA U.S. city in Iowa Population (2000): 202 Housing Units (2000): 98 Land area (2000): 0.208116 sq. miles (0.539018 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.208116 sq. miles (0.539018 sq. km)… … StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places
Ayrshire, IA — U.S. city in Iowa Population (2000): 202 Housing Units (2000): 98 Land area (2000): 0.208116 sq. miles (0.539018 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.208116 sq. miles (0.539018 sq. km) FIPS code:… … StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places
Ayrshire — Ayr shire, n. (Agric.) One of a superior breed of cattle from Ayrshire, Scotland. Ayrshires are notable for the quantity and quality of their milk. [1913 Webster] || … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Ayrshire — (spr. ǟrschīr), Grafschaft im südlichen Schottland, grenzt im W. an den Clydebusen, im N. an Renfrewshire, im O. an die Grafschaften Lanark, Dumfries und Kirkcudbright und im S. an Wigtownshire, umfaßt 2975 qkm (54 QM.) mit (1901) 254,436 Einw.… … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
Ayrshire — [ eəʃə, englisch], ein Hausrind (Rinder) … Universal-Lexikon
Ayrshire — Ayrshire1 [er′shir, ar′shir] n. any of a breed of medium sized dairy cattle which are brownish red and white: originally from the county of Ayr Ayrshire2 [er′shir, ar′shir] AYR (the former county) … English World dictionary
Ayrshire — This article is about the region in Scotland. For the cattle originating from Ayrshire, see Ayrshire cattle. For the small city in the United States, see Ayrshire, Iowa. Ayr County (until circa 1890) … Wikipedia
Ayrshire — Traditionelle Grafschaft Ayrshire Ayrshire ist eine traditionelle Grafschaft (engl. Shire) im Südwesten Schottlands. Heute ist das Gebiet Ayrshires in die Verwaltungsbezirke East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire (erweitert um die Insel Arran … Deutsch Wikipedia
Ayrshire — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. L Ayrshire, un comté écossais ; Le North Ayrshire est une division administrative de l Écosse ; Le South Ayrshire est une division… … Wikipédia en Français
