CORRESPONDENCE FROM DAVID BELL
CORRESPONDENCE FROM DAVID BELL OF GLASGOW
This is a series of letters from David Hill of 19 Eton Place, Hillhead, Glasgow to W.H. Rankine of Falkirk relating to William Symington and the Charlotte Dundas. In 1907, his letters were addressed to W.H. Rankine at Laurieston; from 1909, Rankine's address was 19 West Bank Place, Falkirk.
1907
12 FEBRUARY 1907 (2 sheets, 7 pages)
In preparing notes on the origins of Steam Navigation in Scotland, Bell had been in touch with the Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum who gave him W.H. Rankine's address.
He is seeking a portrait of William Symington held by W.H. Rankine which had been mentioned in the June 5 1901 issue of the Falkirk Herald. Bell has photographs of the bust in the Edinburgh Museum and of a sketch in the Greenock Museum.
R. Duncan, M.P. for Govan, was also seeking an authentic likeness to accompany an article on Symington which he was about to publish in his magazine "Britannia". This piece was prepared by a niece of Lord Kelvin from information in the 1862 Rankine Biography.
Bell wants to establish William Symington's correct date of birth; he asks if "Doctor" or "Mister" is the correct title for Robert Bowie.
He had obtained photographs of the Rankine model from the V.&A. Museum.
Bell is puzzled at the reference in the Rankine Biography to a "second and larger Charlotte Dundas" and asks "was the first vessel of that name tried only in 1801 and 1802; and were the subsequent trials of 1803 those of the second boat?" He asks if any further details were available which had not been recorded in the Biography.
1 APRIL 1907 (1 sheet, 4 pages)
Bell acknowledges receipt of a letter from W.H.R. dated 4 March.
He had written to Mr. Duncan and was waiting for the article to be printed in the "Britannia".
Bell had been to London and sketched the Symington memorial tablet in St. Botolph's. He was told that the precise spot where Symington was buried was unknown. The churchyard was poorly kept and had only a few gravestones. An engraving of Symington was in the vestry.
In the South Kensington Museum, he saw the Symington bust from which the engraving had been taken. He would visit the Museum again and wanted to know about the origin of the bust and to see the Hill portrait, and other items bequeathed to the Museum by Mr. Woodcroft. He noted that the Charlotte Dundas model in the Museum was a copy and presumed Rankine had the original. To pursue his enquiries, he would return to London on 2 April, staying three nights at the Metropole Hotel in Northumberland Avenue.
1909
16 AUGUST 1909 (1 sheet, 3 pages)
Writing from 6 Ronaldshaw Park, Ayr ("at Ayr till end of month"):
Mr. W. Williamson of Leicester had sent him a mounted and framed portrait of William Symington, copied from the original at South Kensington. Bell presented that picture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilding.
He had visited London again at the end of June with a friend and viewed the original Hill portrait, "the only authentic likeness."
He reports a visit by Mr. J. Symington from Australia, a great grandson of the Engineer, who then left Glasgow to visit his uncle in Oban before travelling to Inverness. Bell gave him W.H.R.'s address.
25 OCTOBER 1909 (1 sheet, 4 pages)
Had sent a note to W.H.R. on 12 October; waiting on a reply from a Mr. Russell of Edinburgh to verify his claim that the C.D. engine was made at Carron Works.
Provost Mackay had allegedly learnt from the son of Hart, the boat builder, that it was made at Carron but Carron Company were unable to confirm that they made the engine.
Confusion as to the origin of the model in the Melbourne Museum.
No evidence that Bell was with Fulton when he visited the Charlotte Dundas.
On 20 October he had a visit from the Carron Company's engineer and a Mr. Higgins, who had prepared a booklet for the company (which contained errors). Bell lent them a manuscript copy of Symington's "Brief History". They could only assume their company made the engine but had no proof.
He advised the Carron officials to see W.H.R.
1910
8 JANUARY 1910 (three typed sheets on foolscap, with a note from W.H. to Robert Rankine)
Returning a letter from W.H.R. (about the Symington relics in the Melbourne Museum) and ponders their origin. The relics comprised a plaster bust, a model of the Charlotte Dundas, a document dated July 1802 connected with William Symington's patent, and three lithographic prints which were the same as the illustrations in Bowie's pamphlet. He surmises that they were taken to Melbourne by Dr. Bowie or William Symington junior.
He thought that Mr. Woodcroft may have obtained the portrait and bust at South Kensington from Dr. Bowie or from William Symington junior.
He requests measurements and photographs of the Melbourne model.
He had noted in passing a patent for a "paddle wheel for propulsion of vessels and for other motive purposes", granted to William and Andrew Symington in 1834, and he concluded that the arrangement was complicated and very liable to derangement.
Pinned to this letter is a note from W.H. Rankine to his son Robert, dated 5 February 1910, asking him to find out from the people at Bacchus Marsh when W. Symington and Dr. Bowie came to Australia and when they died and whether Mary Symington was still alive. He wants to know if they have any claim on the items in the museum and would they leave them or sell them to him!
11 JANUARY 1910 (1 typed foolscap page, with an attached typed copy of a letter from H. W. Dickinson to Bell Dated 10 January 1910)
A long postscript to his letter to W.H.R. dated 8 January.
Bell had sent details of the Museum relics provided by Robert Rankine to his friend Mr. Dickinson of the South Kensington Museum and attached a copy of Dickinson's reply.
He would write to the Assistant Curator of the General Register Office to further clarify the patent document in the Melbourne Museum.
He asks if Rankine's son could secure a photograph of the cast in the Melbourne Museum and that his letters and that of Mr. Dickinson might be sent on to Rankine's son.
The text of Mr. Dickinson's response to Bell is as follows:
The Science Museum,
South Kensington,
LONDON, S.W.
10th January 1910.
Dear Mr Bell,
Your very interesting communication reached me on Saturday, and I set on foot enquiries immediately about your find so that I have delayed replying till the very last moment.
I have enquired from Mr Hulme of the Patent Office Library and he has replied by telephone that that Symington did not take out a Scots patent only the English one No. 2544. (In those days you could take out an English or Scots or U.K. patent) but on this point you may enquire from: -
Rev. John Anderson,
Asst. Curator,
Historical Dept.,
H.M. General Register Office,
Edinburgh.
Scots patents have never been printed so there is an interesting field there.
I can't tell you what the endorsement on the parchment document should read, and its meaning, but the third word is GULIELMI, i.e. "of William" Symington.
One thing you must certainly ask for, is a transcription of the first few lines of the document. A friend suggests to me that the document might be a stage in a grant of letters patent corresponding to the Signet Bill of English practice. If a patent, there ought to be a seal attached as big as a saucer. This would have been mentioned if there-would it not?
I verily believe that you have got on the track of Symington's very original model. May be the one he submitted to the Duke of Bridgewater.
I have ventured to retain the extract from Mr Rankine's letter to show to a friend who is interested, as I notice it is a carbon.
Let me know if I may keep a copy.
Yours in great haste. Excuse the untidiness.
Yours sincerely,
(S'gd.) H. W. DICKINSON
P.S. The longitudinal section might be the one given in Mech. Mag. Vol. 17.
13 JANUARY 1910 (I foolscap page, to which is stapled a typed copy of a letter to Bell dated 12 January 1910 from John Anderson, Curator at General Register House, relating to William Symington's patent)
At the suggestion of Mr. Dickinson, Bell had written to the Register House at Edinburgh and received this reply from the Rev. Mr. Anderson, whose response shed some light on the likely nature of the document in the Melbourne Museum. Bell asked Rankine to forward Rev. Anderson's letter to his son in Melbourne.
The following is a transcription of Rev. Anderson's letter which was addressed to David Bell Esq.:
H.M. General Register House,
Historical Department,
EDINBURGH. 12th Jany. 1910
Dear Sir,
Wm. Symington's Patent
I am favoured with your query as to this matter.
The description of the document is (no doubt owing to its defacement) somewhat hazy, but it appears to be an official copy or 'extract' as we call it of the Licence or patent granted to Wm. Symington, and also of the specification od his Invention. At least one Licence and the Specification are recorded (of differing dates) in the Paper register of the Great seal, and copies can be had if you particularly desire them, or if you are in town you may see the record.
The first writ (which is in Latin) is very brief and simply states that Wm. Symington, Machinist, at Kinnaird, Co. Stirling, had petitioned for protection of his Invention 'a new mode of constructing Steam Engines &c. &c', and received it in the usual form. This is dated 25 August 1801 and is headed 'Carta Don Gulielmus (sic) Symington Inventionis Suae' This is probably the first writ of your copy.
On 21 November 1801, Symington had another Licence under the Great Seal, which is not recorded in the Register as far as I can find, but is referred to in Symington's Specification of his invention, dated at Edinburgh 9th March 1802. They are in English.
I have no doubt your document is a copy, -no doubt official, -incorporating these patents and the Specifications.
The references are, Register of Great seal (Paper Register Vol 21, Nos. 128 and 160).
I trust this will be of use to you.
Yours faithfully,
(Sgd) JOHN ANDERSON
Curator
There are no Nos. such as you refer to, but these might be added by the Patent Officials.
3 MAY 1910 (1 sheet, 4 pages)
Bell thanked W.H.R. for his son's letter (about the Melbourne relics), which he returned.
He remarked on Robert's singular meeting with W. Symington of Bacchus Marsh and thought it curious that there had been no contact between relatives at Bacchus Marsh and Junee. The model of the C.D. proved not to be William Symington's original one. "D.F." (Rev. Duncan Fraser of Melbourne) had alleged that it was "Symington's own model."
Bell requested his nephew David Harkess (who lived in Melbourne) call on Robert Rankine.
As a post script, Bell had lately looked up William Symington's patents, numbers 1610 and 2544 and patent 6631 which was awarded to Symington's sons William and Andrew "For Propulsion of Vessels and for Other Motive Purposes."
1911
26 OCTOBER 1911 (1 sheet, 1 page)
Bell trusted that W.H.R. and his wife were better but assumed he would not be visiting the Exhibition in Glasgow.
He mentions that the Bell Memorial was to be unveiled at Torpichen on 4th November.
He intended to write to Patrick Miller, with reference to Patrick Taylor, a draft of which he enclosed (but apparently not retained by W.H.R.).
With a plaintive postscript "I suppose nothing further from Australia?"
1912
9 FEBRUARY 1912 (1 sheet, 2 pages)
He returns Rankine's volume of Scott-Russell.
A review of old publications relating to the history of the F.& C. Canal revealed a divided management: a Council, of which Lord Dundas was a member, meeting in London and controlling largely the actions of the Scottish Committee which met in Edinburgh.
Latterly there was much friction between them, so that Dundas and his colleagues resigned office in 1816.
Bell's opinion: "I am inclined to think that the opposition to the "Ch Dundas" arose mainly from this friction & Jealousy-the boat being Lord Dundas's sole project and property."
Bell asks if the Estate of Kerse (belonging to Dundas) was close to Grangemouth- "one of the charges made by the Scottish Committee was, that the Canal extensions & improvements were arranged largely with a view to develop the Kerse lands."
22 MAY 1912 (1 sheet, 2 pages)
Bell had written to Sir J.B. Smith and enclosed his reply (not retained). Smith was not offering any item for the exhibition, and Bell observes "I suppose it would be useless to write further?" He had also written to Mr. Salvesen but was yet to receive a reply.
He had a copy of Dr. Bowie's pamphlet for the Exhibition, "and will have models, portrait, &c. to keep Symington's name prominent."
From a friend, Bell had received a copy of Duncan's Itinerary of Scotland, 1816, with the name on the title-page "Will: Symington. MDCCCXVII" and a notation at the end of the book: From July to Nov. 1818, rode 480 miles
From Novr. To Feby. 1819 - " – 368 " "
Bell questions whether this was W.H.R.'s Symington and whether he knew of any authentic copy of his signature, or specimen of his hand-writing. Bell asks if he knew how William Symington was occupied in the years 1818 and 1819. He would also contact South Kensington and J. Symington of Oban.
30 JUNE 1912 (1 sheet, 3 pages)
Apologising for troubling W.H.R. who had been very ill, Bell writes that, in preparation for the Exhibition, he would write an explanatory caption for a photograph of the Melbourne Museum model of the C.D. He asks whether he should state that Mr. Andrew Symington of Fifeshire made the model "for William Symington junior son of the Engineer or Dr. Bowie, his son-in -law, both of whom went to Australia" or whether to omit the reference to Dr. Bowie.
He asks if the Bacchus Marsh man was the grandson or great-grandson of the Engineer.
He sends a paper containing a notice of his book on David Napier, in which he made special reference to Symington in his footnotes.
(With a postscript "Mr. Salvesen has never replied")
BELL TO ROBERT RANKINE
1913
28 FEBRUARY 1913 (3 sheets, 3 pages)
To Robert Rankine Esqr. Melbourne.
Bell expressed his deep regret at the sad news his father had passed away.
They had first met at the Symington bust in the Edinburgh Museum.
The Centenary Exhibition had brought him into contact with Mr. Salveson of Grangemouth who was largely responsible for the Edinburgh bust. Salveson sent Bell some documents which Bell forwarded to W.H.R.: these documents explained Mr. Lyon's correspondence with Lord Kelvin who in turn passed Lyon's letter of 23 November 1890 on to Salvesen. In that letter, Lyon gave his version of the origin of the plaster casts of Symington's head and indicated the precise place where he was interred. Bell saw that the corner where Symington was buried had been cut away and he surmised that his remains had been removed and possibly re-interred. Bell could get no further information on the subject from the church.
He noted that John Symington (of Junee) had settled in North Sydney and that his father was still alive.
Strangely he asks again who made the model in the Melbourne Museum (vide his letter to W.H.R. 3 June 1912)
Bell had lately received from Mr. W. Williamson a letter by Mr. Woodcroft, stating that he had purchased the Symington portrait from the artist, D.O. Hill.
Mr. Salvesen told Bell that had a small edition of the "Wm. Symington Life" reprinted when the Edinburgh bust was made. Bell assumes this was a copy of the original Rankine Biography.
Bell asks "Did your father send you the Catalogue of our Exhibition?" and notes "Symington was well represented by models, drawings, relics, and the likeness."
As a postscript, he mentioned the "Life of David Napier" which he had compiled and which was published in 1912. He had sent a copy to his nephew, David B. Harkess, of 31 Hannan Street, North Williamstown.
OTHER ITEMS WHICH BELL PASSED ON TO W.H. RANKINE
MATERIAL FROM J.A. LYON OF LONDON
A typed copy of Lyon's letter dated 23 November 1890 to Professor Sir William Thomson, Glasgow, which he wrote after reading of the unveiling of the marble bust of Symington at Edinburgh; he writes on his personal recollections of William Symington, his funeral, and the making of a post mortem plaster cast.
Transcription of J.A. Lyon's letter dated 23 November 1890:
J.A. & W. LYON St Mary le Strand Bleach Works,
72 Leo Street,
Old Kent Road,
London, S.E. Nov. 23rd 1890
Dear Sir,
By a paragraph in the “Times” of yesterday I learn that a marble bust of William Symington was unveiled at Edinburgh. By your taking part in the ceremony I conclude you take considerable interest in the life of W. Symington. I am especially interested in the Bust for the following reasons. Previous to the death of Mr Symington he lived for several years with his son-in-law Dr Robert Bowie at Burr St. Lower East Smith-field, whose family and ours were constant visitors with each other. We lived at Clapton but as I was almost daily in town I was very often at Burr St. where I had tea before going home. My recollection of Mr Symington is of a fine thoughtful quiet old gentleman with whom I had many pleasant conversations, mostly with respect to his early inventions and his early life as an engineer; the difficulties he had to contend with, and the many disappointments he had; he when he thought all was going well at Dalswinton Mr Millar gave up all interest in the invention; how the canal proprietors would not allow him to run his steam boat as it would wash away the banks; how Fulton had the boat started to see how it worked; and how he was about the Carron works whilst he, Symington, was getting his machinery made; how when he came to England he was going to or did commence action against Watt for an infringement on his patent condensing engine, but found that the same idea had arisen in both their minds without any knowledge of each other; how when quite a young man he was applied to try to clear a valuable mine at the Leadhills from water and in which he succeeded where other engineers had failed. Now as to the question of the Bust, in 1830-31 there was in the Wapping district an epidemic fever, which not only carried off many of the inhabitants but nearly all the medical men who practised in their neighbourhood. Dr. Robert. Bowie and his brother William (his partner) were both ill and not expected to recover. When Mr Symington died, I should say, of old age, my father or myself called daily at Burr Street to see if we could do anything to help the family in their distress, and my father got a young Scotch Doctor to come and assist in attending to Dr Bowie’s patients. On Mr Symington’s death, my father learned that there was no likeness of him any where, and he at once procured a modeller who made a plaster cast of Mr Symington before he was placed in his coffin. For many years we had the plaster Bust; it was lent to one of Mr Symington’s family for some reason or other and to be returned, this has never been done, but now I see of the marble bust it brings the whole matter to my recollection. I may mention that in consequence of the epidemic hardly anyone would go into the neighbourhood of Burr St, and the only persons who attended at the burial were his son W. Symington, my Father, and myself. Mr Symington was buried in Aldgate Church yard, in a corner just opposite the end of the Minories, and I think there was a small tablet placed on the side wall of the first house in Aldgate, but I am not quite sure – When Dr Bowie went to Australia we lost sight of him and all the family. I cannot trace thro’ whom the relationship of Mrs Dickie exists.
Yours faithfully.
(Sgd) J.A. Lyon.
To, Professor Sir William Thomson, Glasgow
A typed copy of a brief letter from Thomson to Mr. Salvesen (of Grangemouth) dated 29 November 1890 referring to this letter from Lyon, which he forwarded to Salvesen, with an attached printed paper and engraving. Salveson, in turn, passed these items on to David Bell.
A typed copy of a letter dated 13 December 1890 from Lyon to Salvesen, in which he says he received a request for information from Miss Thomson of Hillhead, Glasgow, who was writing a biographical sketch of Symington. Bell's sister, the widow of Captain W. Dawson, had Bowie's pamphlet. Bell claims she saw Dr. Bowie in Melbourne in 1844-45. This date is incorrect- Bowie emigrated in 1851.
Lyon attached to his letter an extract from The South London Press dated 12 March 1887 which gives an account of the Lyons and their Bleach Works. In a brief attached note, also dated 13 December 1890, Lyon mentions the lithograph taken from the bust and the paper his father had issued to procure a testimonial for Symington's widow.
Lyon's father was from Port Glasgow, and a schoolfellow of the shipbuilders John and Charles Wood and was on board a ship they built in 1822 (not named) which was sailed to London where it was fitted with steam engines.
A typed extract from the South London Press of 12 March 1887, an article about the Lyon family and their firm, the St. Mary-le-Strand bleachworks, founded in 1794 by J.A. Lyon's father who hailed from Port Glasgow.
BELL'S NOTES COMPARING THE PAMPHLET BY DR. ROBERT BOWIE, 1833, AND BIOGRAPHY BY J. AND W.H. RANKINE, 1862.
Typed notes by David Bell, dated Glasgow, 29 May 1907 in which he puzzles over discrepancies between the two publications. Notably, that Bowie's pamphlet gave the date of the principal trial of the Charlotte Dundas as March 1802, whereas the Rankine Biography has the year 1803; the Biography (page 10) refers to a second Charlotte Dundas not mentioned by Bowie. Bell believed it "incredible" that Bowie, writing only two years after Symington died, would have omitted all reference to a second Charlotte Dundas, had such a vessel existed.
COPY OF LETTER FROM JAS. B. SMITH [1] OF STIRLING TO BELL, DATED 9 MAY 1912
Typed copy of Smith's letter about commemorating William Symington as the first to produce a practical steamboat.
Clifford Park,
Stirling, May 9th 1912
Dear Mr Bell,
Your kind letter of 4th I duly received on reaching home a day or two ago. Regarding the Exhibition which is to assist in celebrating Henry bell's "Comet" centenary I cannot but wish it well.
The year 1901 was the Centenary year of the building of Symington's "Charlotte Dundas", the very first steamer which was a practical success and thus was "inaugurated steam navigation practically and commercially on British Waters".
I tried to get the management of the Glasgow exhibition of that year to mark the event in some special manner but was discouraged in my efforts and again at the Scottish National Historical Exhibition of last year the management seemed to wish as little as possible made of Symington's memory or achievement: an achievement which preceded that of Robert Fulton by some seven years, and that of Henry Bell by about 10 years.
I was thus again discouraged from doing what I could to keep Symington's memory to the front as the man who first succeeded in making the steamboat a practical success.
I trust you will succeed where I failed, in making it better known than heretofore that Wm. Symington's steamer preceded by some years both Fulton's and Bell's and that both of these good men had seen Symington's steamer at work.
Yours truly,
(Sgd) Jas. B. Smith [2]
LETTER FROM J. MACFARLAN, PATENT OFFICE LONDON, TO ROBERT RANKINE
Letter dated 24 July 1919, addressed to Lieut. Col. R. Rankine D.S.O., Command Headquarters, A.I.F. Concentration Depot, at Codford, Wilts., regarding Macfarlan's interest in the foundation of steam navigation in Scotland by Miller and Symington, and seeking original documents which J. and W.H. Rankine may have used in preparing their Symington biography.
The following year, Macfarlan published his monograph "Was Burns at the Trial of Patrick Miller's Steamboat in 1788?" [3] His opinion: "investigation has unfortunately not resulted in definite conclusions."
PEOPLE MENTIONED IN BELL'S CORRESPONDENCE
REV. JOHN ANDERSON 1845-1911
Curator of the Historical Department of H.M. General Register House, Edinburgh.
Obituary Edinburgh Evening News 4 April 1911 page 2
PROVOST BOGLE
James Cairns Bogle O.B.E. Elected Provost of the Burgh of Falkirk in 1910.
Obituary Falkirk Herald 26 September 1923 page 4; The Scotsman 24 September 1923 page 5
DR. ROBERT BOWIE 1788-1869
William Symington's son-in-law. He published a biography of William Symington, his "Brief Narrative" in 1833. He emigrated to Melbourne in 1851.
H.W. DICKINSON 1870-1952
Henry Winram Dickinson was a mechanical engineer who became the Keeper of Mechanical Engineering at the Science Museum. He was a prolific author whose works included biographies of Watt, Boulton, Trevithick and Wilkinson.
MR. R. DUNCAN
Robert Duncan 1850-1925 was a marine engineer. In 1906 he was elected Member of Parliament for the Govan district of Glasgow. In 1895 he founded and edited a monthly journal named "Britannia", the aim of which was "to promote the closer union of home country and colonies." [4]
DAVID BELL HARKESS 1863-1947
David Bell's nephew in Melbourne. He was the superintending engineer of the Spotswood Pumping Station which is now to be found in the grounds of the Scienceworks Museum.
HART
An alleged descendant of the Grangemouth boat-builder, Alexander Hart
HILL
DAVID OCTAVIUS HILL R.S.A. 1802-1870
Scottish artist and a pioneer photographer. Born in Perth in 1802. Sketched the portrait of William Symington, now in the Science Museum, from the collection of Bennet Woodcroft who purchased it from the artist (see Bell's letter to Robert Rankine, dated 28 February 1913).
LORD KELVIN
Professor Sir William Thomson 1824-1907, a pioneer in the fields of thermodynamics and electromagnetic theory; at the age of 22 he was appointed to the Chair of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow University. He unveiled the Stevenson bust of William Symington in Edinburgh in 1890.
Kelvin's niece: either Elizabeth Thomson King 1848-1914 or her sister Agnes Gardner King 1857-1929, a watercolourist who wrote "Kelvin the Man, a Biographical Sketch by his Niece." 1925
J.A. LYON
JOHN ANDREW LYON 1809-1899
A family friend of William Symington who attended his funeral and who identified his burial site in his letter to Sir William Thomson dated 23 November 1890.
Obituary South London Press 9 December 1899 page 7
PROVOST MACKAY 1845-1925
Andrew Younger Mackay, born in Falkirk in 1845, was Provost of the Burgh of Grangemouth at the time of this correspondence.
SALVESEN
H. ADOLPH SALVESEN 1860-1924 of Grangemouth was a mechanical engineer and ship owner. He was a partner in the firm which his father founded, J.T. Salvesen, ship owners and timber merchants. He was a member of the committee which was formed to fund the Stevenson bust of William Symington which is in the Edinburgh Museum. Biography with portrait in The Falkirk Herald 30 January 1907 page 5. He was a J.P. and vice consul for Sweden and Norway. He was a member of the Institute of Naval Architects and lectured on the history of steam navigation. (Falkirk Herald 30 November 1887 page 5)
SYMINGTONS
WILLIAM SYMINGTON OF BACCHUS MARSH 1840-1929
William Symington's grandson. Emigrated with his father William in 1855.
JOHN SYMINGTON OF JUNEE 1863-1960
Grandson of Andrew Symington, clockmaker of Kettle.
MARY SYMINGTON 1836-1864
The eldest daughter of William Symington junior 1802-1867.
W. WILLIAMSON OF LEICESTER 1847-1917
William Williamson was a native of Leadhills and William Symington's grand-nephew, being descended from William's sister Margaret. His brother John Williamson was the individual chiefly responsible for the erection of the Symington Memorial at Leadhills.
MR. WOODCROFT 1803-1879
Bennet Woodcroft F.R.S. In 1848, he was professor of machinery at University College when he published his seminal work, "A Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation. In 1852 he was appointed Superintendent of Specifications with the Patent Office. He founded the Patent Office museum, the collections of which were ultimately transferred to the Science Museum. He secured the engine from Bell's 1812 Comet for the Museum and saved the Dalswinton steamboat engine from demolition. He purchased the Hill portrait of William Symington from the artist.
[1] Should read James B. Smith
[2] Incorrectly typed as James R. Smith in the Bell copy
[3] Transactions of the Dumfries and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society 1919-1920, Series III Volume 7, pages 45-54; cited in an elegant dissertation by Elizabeth Ewing "Burns and the First Steamboat-Was He Present at its Trial?", Burns Chronicle and Club Directory Second Series, Volume XVI 1941 pages 40-47
[4] Murphy, William S., Captains of Industry 1901 pages 117-121