WILLIAM SYMINGTON VERSUS JAMES TAYLOR

 THE SAGA OF JAMES TAYLOR 1758-1825

The names Miller, Symington and Taylor are inextricably linked to a famous steamboat trial which was conducted in 1788. Patrick Miller, an Edinburgh banker, had been experimenting with multi-hulled vessels which were propelled by paddle wheels situated between the hulls and turned by cranks operated by teams of men. James Taylor, a student at Edinburgh University, was a tutor to Miller's two younger sons (William and Thomas Hamilton Miller). [1] In 1786, William Symington and his brother had built a working model steam carriage which William demonstrated in Edinburgh. As contemporary students at the University, Taylor and William Symington were well known to each other. They were both born in Leadhills and their close relatives had formed a business connection in nearby Wanlockhead.  It seems that Taylor and Miller discussed the use of a steam engine to power Miller's vessels in place of manual propulsion. Taylor introduced William to Patrick Miller who examined the Symington's steam carriage in Edinburgh [2] and Taylor encouraged Miller to employ Symington to provide an engine to power one of Miller's vessels. Miller engaged William Symington to produce a small steam engine to power a double-hulled craft which was demonstrated on a lake at his country estate of Dalswinton in 1788. Those involved in the Dalswinton trial and their supporters came to believe that this was the first vessel to be successfully powered by a steam engine.

Unfortunately, James Taylor proved to be a self-serving fraud. He and his supporters made the outrageous claim that he was the inventor of steam navigation, for which he was rewarded with a generous government grant and a pension for his widow. Taylor had introduced William Symington to Patrick Miller but would later claim that he was the introducer and indeed the inventor of steam navigation. Taylor's headstone in the Old Cumnock Cemetery bears the inscription "The Inventor of Steam Navigation".

William Symington was to make a similar claim and each man prepared submissions designed to secure remuneration from the government.

A brief summary of the salient facts relating to the introduction of steam navigation is as follows:

1736 Jonathan Hulls patented his concept of a vessel powered by a steam engine

1783 The Marquis de Jouffroy demonstrated his steamboat, the Pyroscaythe, on the river Saone

1786 The brothers William and George Symington build a working model steam carriage

1787 William Symington patented a novel version of the atmospheric steam engine

1787 Patrick Miller published a pamphlet in which he suggested the use of a steam engine to drive the paddle wheels of a triple-hulled vessel

1787 James Taylor introduced William Symington to Patrick Miller and encouraged Miller to employ Symington to design an engine and mechanism for a double hulled boat

1788 The successful trial of Miller's experimental steamboat on his lake at Dalswinton

1789 Miller employed William Symington to design the engine and drive mechanism for a larger boat which was tried on the Forth and Clyde canal

James Taylor was born in Leadhills in 1758, [3] the youngest son of Robert Taylor c.1725-1791, who for many years was an overseer to the Scots Mines Company at Leadhills.  His elder brother John 1753-1806 was an overseer of the Wanlockhead mines and a business associate of William Symington. The family of John Taylor of Wanlockhead is well documented, notably by Wilson in his Memorials of Sanquhar Kirkyard, where John Taylor and many of his family are buried. [4] 

William and his brother George Symington built their model steam carriage in 1786 and entered into a business arrangement with John Taylor, with a view to building and marketing steam carriages, having established the firm Symington, Taylor and Company. Gilbert Meason, the managing partner of the Wanlockhead Mining Company arranged for William to enrol at the University of Edinburgh in the Summer of 1786, where he attended a course of lectures delivered by the eminent chemist Joseph Black. James Taylor was also attending the University, where he was enrolled in the Medicine and Divinity courses. Taylor introduced Symington to Miller who examined the Symington steam carriage in Gilbert Meason's Edinburgh house in St. Andrew Square. [5]

A twin cylinder atmospheric engine, built to the design patented by William Symington in 1787, was installed on Miller's double-hulled "pleasure boat" at Dalswinton. The paddle wheels were propelled by a chain and ratchet mechanism, built also to Symington's specifications. In 1789 the experiment was repeated using a much larger boat with a more powerful engine. The engine parts were fashioned at the Carron Company in Falkirk under Symington's instruction. Although Taylor had no background in mechanics or engineering, he would later claim that he superintended the installation of the engine on the Dalswinton boat, and that he had played a similar role in Miller's later experiments on the Forth and Clyde Canal.

Taylor prepared a report of the 1788 trial which he sent to the editor of the Dumfries Journal. That account was also published in the Edinburgh Advertiser and Scot's Magazine. Miller's advocate, Lord Cullen, dictated a report on the 1789 steamboat, copies of which Taylor sent to the editors of the Caledonian Mercury, Evening Courant and the Edinburgh Advertiser.

Taylor went on to write an ambiguous and misleading report in which he failed to clearly state that it was William Symington who had designed and built the engine for the second boat. The engine was built at the Carron works in the summer of 1789. Taylor wrote "in Spring, 1789, I repaired to Carron with Mr. Symington for this purpose, and in the course of the summer, constructed a double Engine, with cylinders 18 inches diameter." [6] The implication was that Taylor was involved in building the engine. However, Taylor was not a mechanic and he made no contribution to the design or construction of the machinery. The engines of both Miller's steamboats were built to the plan of Symington's 1787 patented atmospheric engine. Correspondence between Taylor and Miller suggests that Miller had employed him to oversee his scheme and to report on the progress of the works. Carron Company employees confirmed that Taylor was not involved with construction. In sworn statements dated 25 January 1825 and 13 May 1833, Henry Stainton, a Carron Company manager, affirmed that the instructions and drawings relating to the machinery for Miller's 1789 steamboat came from William Symington. Stainton regarded James Taylor as no more than an observer or a "spy", acting on behalf of Miller. [7] [8] Stainton was then the London agent for Carron Company.

Miller was highly displeased with delays in construction and a less than satisfactory performance of the second vessel led him to withdraw from the scheme. Miller had complained of Symington's tardiness and of the "ill-regulated and enormous expence". Furthermore, the great James Watt had cast doubt that the steam engine could be employed on the open sea. However, Taylor's obituarist maintained that Miller discontinued his experiments on an "unaccountable whim" [9] 

Taylor's contribution was to introduce Symington to Miller but would later claim that he, Taylor, was the "inventor" of steam navigation.

TAYLOR, SYMINGTON AND MILLER

In April 1824, James Taylor wrote to Sir Henry Parnell, Chairman of a Select Committee on Steam Boats, claiming for Patrick Miller and himself the merit of introducing steam navigation. Furthermore, James Taylor's obituarist makes the specious claim that Taylor was the first to suggest the application of steam power to propel vessels. [10] 

William Symington prepared his own Memorial for the Treasury dated 1 December 1824, which was submitted in April 1826. Introducing his Petition to Treasury, William Symington wrote "That your Petitioner has been advised by several of his Friends and Acquaintances to lay before your Honourable House the following brief Statement of facts relative to his connexion with the perfecting of Steam-Boat Navigation, in the hope that your Honourable House may be induced to afford him that relief which should have been made to him by the Invention itself, had not fortuitous circumstances interfered, to deprive him of the remuneration which might have been expected upon bringing to perfection so useful an Invention." In his Petition, he explained his contribution to the steamboat experiments sponsored by Miller and by Lord Dundas; he claimed he had expended a large sum of money on these experiments and pleaded to the House for remuneration in view of "the pains & disbursements he has employed in perfecting an Invention, of which the Public now reap the whole benefit."

MILLER'S CLAIM

In July 1825 Miller's eldest son Patrick joined the fray and produced a pamphlet which was published in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, titled: "A Short Narrative of Facts Relative to the Invention and Practice of Steam-navigation by the late Patrick Miller, Esq. of Dalswinston."

In the face of competing claims, Miller's son published his paper "in public vindication of the claims of my Father to be held and acknowledged as the real author of the modern system of steam navigation" specifically, the application of paddle wheels powered by the steam engine. Miller's son wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 25 July 1825, with a copy of his Narrative in relation to the adaptation of the steam engine to navigation, in which Symington and Bell were named as "impostors" who were seeking Government remuneration. He concluded that his father was the first to establish the practicability of propelling vessels by rotating paddles and of adapting the steam engine to provide motive power. He conceded however that Jonathan Hulls had devised the concept of a steam powered vessel driven by a paddle wheel, for which he was granted a patent in 1736. Patrick Miller had a particular interest in naval architecture and published a pamphlet in 1787, "The Elevation, Section, Plan, and Views of a TRIPLE VESSEL and of WHEELS, with explanations of the figures in the engraving, and a short account of the properties and advantages of the Invention." Miller's son quoted from this pamphlet: "I have also reason to believe, that THE POWER OF THE STEAM-ENGINE MAY BE APPLIED TO WORK THE WHEELS, SO AS TO GIVE THEM A QUICKER MOTION, and consequently to increase that of the ship. In the course of this summer I intend to make the experiment, and the result, if favourable, shall be communicated to the public."

Miller's son confirmed that James Taylor had recommended that Miller employ William Symington of the Wanlockhead Mines as the engineer in his scheme and that, after the successful trial at Dalswinton, Miller had engaged Symington to build an engine for a larger boat in 1789. Miller was apparently satisfied that his scheme was practicable, but that vessel was top-heavy and would have been unsafe on the open sea. Regarding this latter experiment, Miller's son recorded his father's "violent disgust" (directed toward William Symington) as a consequence of "not only of tardiness and negligence, but of the ill-regulated and enormous expence in which he had been unnecessarily involved."

Miller's son concluded that Miller "had fully established the practicability of propelling vessels, of any size, by means of wheels or revolving paddles, and of adapting to these the most boundless powers of the steam-engine."

In 1827, as an appendix to his 1825 Narrative, Patrick Miller's son published a Memoir "Regarding Symington and Bell's Pretensions to be considered the Original Inventors of Steam Navigation." [11] He had felt compelled to respond "in consequence of the continued and unwarranted pretensions of others". He had become aware of a Memorial prepared on behalf William Symington which contained reference to his attempt to gain remuneration from the Glasgow steamboat proprietors for invasion of his patent right. Miller said that his father had been outraged when he learned that William Symington had "surreptitiously" taken out a patent for a discovery his father had made many years before. He was indignant that Symington had taken out a patent for a steam tug in 1801 and maintained that the steamboat constructed for Lord Dundas was built "to my father's plan." Miller's son went on to criticise Henry Bell who had placed a petition before Parliament, claiming to be "the first person in this country who brought into practice the power of steam in propelling vessels against wind and tide."

Having quoted from the writings of Symington and Henry Bell, Miller's son concluded: "that the merit of the introduction of steam navigation rests with my late father entirely." He concluded: "my father was the first who introduced the practical use of steam navigation and Symington was the mechanic employed by him" and "the merit of the introduction of steam navigation rests with my late father entirely." Regarding Taylor, he wrote "from who's advice alone, my father received the smallest assistance"

1827

Major William Miller, Patrick Miller's second son, had read that Henry Bell intended to apply to Parliament for a grant for bringing Steam Navigation into general use. In response, Major Miller wrote to the Caledonian Mercury from Edinburgh on 9 March 1827 to publicise his father's contribution by forwarding a letter Patrick Miller had written to Robert Wight, William Symington's accountant and advisor. [12] On 3 August 1814, Wight had written to Miller on behalf of William Symington to obtain documentation of Symington's contribution to Miller's steamboat experiments. Patrick Miller responded from Dalswinton on 14 August and referred Wight to his 1787 treatise on triple-hulled vessels. Quoting from his treatise Miller wrote "I have also reason to believe that, the powers of the steam engine may be applied to work the wheels, so as to give them a quicker motion." Miller wrote that James Taylor, who was tutor to his sons and had lived with his family for several years, had recommended Symington to him, as an ingenious mechanic who had made an improvement to the steam engine. Miller confirmed that he had employed Symington to make a small engine which was tried at Dalswinton and later to superintend the making of a larger engine at Carron. Miller continued "in short, I always considered Symington in the same light I did every other labourer or tradesman whom I employed about the vessels mentioned." Miller concluded by declaring that his principal desire had been to make experiments useful to his country and that he had not sought financial reward.

On 7 April 1827, Wight forwarded a letter from William Symington to the Caledonian Mercury dated Falkirk, 26 March, intimating that Symington was about to publish his own "true account" in relation to "the invention of Steam Navigation." [13]  Symington's "true account", which was duly published as a lengthy communication to the Caledonian Mercury, was essentially a reiteration of Symington's Memorial to Treasury. [14] 

1862

Having read a copy of the Rankine Biography of William Symington which was published in 1862, Miller's grandson, Major General William Henry Miller, published an open letter to Bennet Woodcroft, a foremost authority of the day and author of "A Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation", with which he submitted "proofs" which he believed would vindicate his grandfather's claim to be the "originator of steam navigation." William Miller quotes at length from James Taylor's Memorial, dated 20 April 1824. Although Taylor laid no claim himself to be the sole inventor of steam navigation, Taylor did state in his Memorial "I think it now, however, my duty, when previous pretenders are laying claim to the merit of the Invention, to stand forward for the honour of my friend, the late Mr. Miller of Dalswinton, and on my own behalf, as the only legitimate claimants of that merit."

Major General Miller also quotes from the pamphlet which his grandfather published on naval architecture in 1787 in which Patrick Miller stated his belief that the steam engine could be used to power the paddle wheels of his triple-hulled vessels. Major General Miller granted that Taylor had been an "able and tireless assistant" but that Miller had always declared himself to be the "Inventor of the Steamboat" and concluded his letter in claiming for his grandfather "the absolute right and title to the honour of being the true discoverer and originator of practical steam navigation."

WILLIAM SYMINGTON'S "AGREEMENT" WITH JAMES TAYLOR

James Taylor cited two letters from William Symington as "evidence" that he, Taylor, should be recognised as the "Introducer" of steam navigation.

An extract from a letter from Symington to James Taylor, dated Wanlockhead, August 20, 1787 refers to "your summer's invention" but the full content of this letter has not been revealed and there is no context. One could fairly assume that the term "invention" refers to Taylor suggesting the use of a steam engine in Miller's paddle boat experiments. The original letter has not come to light, but the extract published by Taylor reads: "but I believe neither this sheet nor my time will allow me to expatiate at any length on this subject, seeing I must make some remarks on your summer's invention, which, if made to perform what its author gives it out for, will undoubtedly be one of the greatest wonders hitherto presented to the world, besides being of considerable emolument to its projector! Great success to you, though overturning my schemes; but take care we do not come upon your back and run away with them by some improvement. Your brother John gives a kind of credit to your report, which for some reasons I do not discourage. I must now conclude, &c" [15]  A second letter from Symington to Taylor, dated Glasgow, Feb. 9, 1821, confirms that they had a business agreement: [16] 

"To Mr. James Taylor, Cumnock

Sir, - In terms of my former agreement, when making experiments of sailing by the steam engine, I hereby bind and oblige myself to you, by a regular assignation, the one-half of that interest and proceeds of the patent taken by me upon that invention, when an opportunity occurs of executing the deed, and when required.

                                                         -I am, sir, your obedient servant,

                                                                   (Signed) Wm. Symington"

The detail is not disclosed but, by inference, Taylor was to receive a share in any proceeds which could arise from the commercial introduction of steam navigation, which William Symington anticipated would flow from his patent taken out in 1801. Presumably this offer was a commitment to repay his debt of gratitude to Taylor for recommending him to Miller as an engine mechanic.

In 1848 Bennet Woodcroft published an extract from a letter from Taylor's brother John to the Countess of Dumfries which confirmed that a business agreement did exist between Miller, James Taylor, Symington and others in relation to potential profits which may arise from Steam Navigation. The Countess of Dumfries was a proprietor of the Wanlockhead mines. The content of the undated letter indicates it was written in 1789. The extract reads "He (James Taylor) proposed to Mr. Miller the applying our steam engine to his boat, which William Symington and he did with success upon a small scale; and at present an engine for a boat of thirty tons burden is founding at Carron, to show the world the utility of the scheme. My brother has a small share in our engine business, which we hope will turn to account in time; and in consequence of our agreement with Mr. Miller, we are to have one-half of the profits arising from his boat scheme, if any there be; and as Mr. Miller's whole dependence is on my brother for managing and executing the scheme he proposes to give him a certain share, distinct from his share with the Symingtons and me."

On 19 February 1821, Alexander Hamilton, James Taylor's legal representative, met with Taylor and Symington in Glasgow with a view to approaching the Steam-boat owners on the Clyde who had allegedly infringed the patent which William Symington took out in his name for the "Invention of navigating vessels by steam." [17] 

It is ironic that, as late as 1821, William Symington would reiterate an earlier agreement in relation to the "invention" of steam navigation. In his action against Bell in 1815 Symington had failed to prove the relevance of his method of steam propulsion "peculiarly adapted for navigating boats, vessels, or rafts in canals or rivers" as described in his 1801 patent specification. His specification described a specific arrangement of machinery rather than a concept but the patent proved to be worthless. Certainly, a general concept of steam propulsion was not patentable although the idea had been anticipated in the proposal patented by Hulls in 1736. Furthermore, the Marquis de Jouffroy had experimented with steam vessels in France several years before Miller's Dalswinton steamboat.

IN SUMMARY, Taylor was neither the "inventor" nor the "introducer" of steam navigation. He was not the first person to suggest the use of the steam engine to propel boats and he was not a trained mechanic or engineer. His contribution was to introduce and recommend William Symington to Patrick Miller and he acted as a supervisor for Miller.

In his Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation, published in 1848, Woodcroft summarised Taylor's contribution thus: "His merits … rest entirely with his having successfully urged Mr. Miller to try steam boat experiments and in having devoted his time and attention in superintending the preparation of his boats for trial."

ONGOING DEBATE

In 1827, William Symington sent his lengthy communication to the Caledonian Mercury in response to communications from Patrick Miller's son to that newspaper. In this letter, he essentially reiterates the content of his Memorial to Treasury.

Symington's son William offered strong support, notably in the pages of the Mechanics' Magazine. Soon after his father's death, he published an account of the Charlotte Dundas, illustrated by an engraving headed "The First Steam-Boat." [18] This report was followed by his account of the Dalswinton steamboat, headed "First British Experiments in Steam Navigation." [19]  [20] 

In 1833, William Symington's son-in-law, Dr. Bowie, published his Biography of William Symington, which was based on the Symington Memorial which had been submitted to parliament in which Bowie wished to validate the claim that William Symington should be considered "The Inventor of Steam Land Carriage Locomotion; and also the Inventor and Introducer of Steam Navigation."

Bowie pronounced his father-in-law to be "the father of Steam Navigation of the present day." Irritated by an article in the March 1833 number of the Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, in which James Taylor was described as a genius and a "scientific prodigy," William Symington junior wrote to the Melbourne Argus to reiterate his father's achievements and to denounce "the idle pretensions of James Taylor." [21]

Long after Woodcroft published his carefully considered views in his Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation, ongoing debate continued to rage in the press concerning the relative merits of Taylor and Symington and the dispute continued well into the twentieth century.

FURTHER DEBATE: REV. DUNCAN FRASER v JAMES DAWSON

An unlikely war of words on the subject of the origins of steam navigation was waged in the Melbourne daily press between two expatriate Scots, a minister of the Presbyterian Church and a Western District grazier.  Each man wrote at considerable length on the question, Rev. Duncan Fraser siding with Symington, and James Dawson of Camperdown the staunch supporter of James Taylor. Their correspondence escalated to a fairly bitter exchange in the columns of the Melbourne Argus. However, they were arguing at crossed purposes with neither man was fully cognisant of the facts. Their dispute began when Dawson took issue with the wording in a display in the window of McEwan's department store in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, which featured a model of the Charlotte Dundas and in which Miller's Dalswinton steamboat was described as "William Symington's First Steam Boat." Fraser was responsible for the descriptions of the artefacts on display. Notably, Fraser claimed that the model steamboat on display was the "original model of the Charlotte Dundas, a steamboat constructed by William Symington." [22] This model was, in fact, built by Symington's son Andrew, long after the event.

JAMES DAWSON 1806-1900

JAMES DAWSON, a pastoralist from the Western District of Victoria, was born in 1806 near Linlithgow, where his father Adam Dawson was Provost. [23]  Having departed from London on 27 November 1839, he and his wife arrived at Port Phillip as cabin passengers in the barque China on 2 May 1840, bringing with him a prefabricated house he had prepared in London. [24] He erected the house beside a lagoon across the Yarra from Melbourne. Then he moved to Anderson's crossing at Warrandyte. Dawson died in Camperdown on 19 April 1900 aged 94. [25] With his daughter, Isabella Park Dawson, he published "Australian Aborigines: the languages and customs of several tribes in the western district of Victoria, Australia". He commissioned Eugene Von Guerard to paint Tower Hill in 1855.

A humanitarian, activist and advocate for aboriginal people, Dawson was appointed as a local guardian of the aborigines. [26] Dawson was known for his feisty nature and demonstrated a keenness to set right any perceived injustice. On his return to Camperdown after a visit to Scotland in 1884 he saw fit to champion the cause of James Taylor as an important innovator of steam navigation. Perhaps it was during this trip that he had become aware of Patrick Miller's experiments with steam propulsion.

DUNCAN FRASER 1825-1912

REV. DUNCAN FRASER was born at Inverness in 1825. He was ordained as a deacon of the Presbyterian Church at Luss in 1845. He and his wife and family arrived from London at Hobson's Bay as cabin passengers in the ship William Kidstch on 21 June 1862. [27] In his funeral eulogy, he was described as "eloquent and thoughtful", a man of "vehement temperament though genial and kindly". [28] 

To raise funds for the Church, Rev. Fraser gave a series of lectures and demonstrations on scientific subjects such as the electric light, the phonograph, the telegraph and microphone. However, the quality of the demonstration did not always match his level of enthusiasm. In 1879 he delivered a lecture and demonstration on the phonograph, telephone and microphone at Melton [30] but it was reported "the attendance was by no means a large one." A telephone connection with Bacchus Marsh attempted but no communication could not be achieved and the demonstration of the phonograph was described as disappointing.

He lectured also on "the electric light" [31] [32] 

From the Bacchus Marsh Express, Saturday 3 June 1882, page 2"

"The Rev. Duncan Fraser's lecture on Monday evening last, in the Mechanics' Institute, Bacchus Marsh, upon the subject of: "Lighting" attracted a large audience, and the rev. gentleman gave some successful experiments, chiefly with the electric light, which, as he remarked, was shown in Bacchus Marsh for the first time since the creation of the world. The lecturer used a voltaic battery, as a dynamo machine (which is usually used for electric light generations) would have required a steam engine force to excite it. Considerable time and hard work was expended by Mr. Fraser in fixing his apparatus, and after he had placed the electric wires in position outside the building be had to remove them inside, owing to the rain. This delay caused the proceedings to be protracted until nearly eleven o'clock, which was objectionable."

Rev. Fraser lived in Northcote, where he was a contemporary of William Symington's daughter Margaret, the widow of Dr. Bowie who had been the superintendent of the asylum at Yarra Bend. Fraser developed an interest in William Symington and the Charlotte Dundas and formed a friendship with William Symington of Bacchus Marsh whom he may have first met when he was lecturing at Bacchus Marsh. He seems to have regarded himself as an authority on the history of steam navigation and delivered a lecture on the subject at Bacchus marsh in 1883. [33] 

In 1888, a model of the Charlotte Dundas which belonged to William Symington of Bacchus Marsh was exhibited at the Centennial International Exhibition in Melbourne. Duncan Fraser had encouraged William Symington to lend his model for the Exhibition. [34]  In 1889 William Symington gave the model and other relics on loan to the Melbourne Museum. [35] [36] 

In January 1888 Dawson wrote to the Camperdown Chronicle, observing that 1888 was the centenary year of Miller's steamboat experiment at Dalswinton. Dawson had become interested in the first successful employment of steam to power vessels, which was a topic of discussion when he was living in Glasgow. In a muddled account, Dawson wrote that, after the Dalswinton trial, Miller instructed Taylor to employ Symington to fit a more powerful engine in a vessel called the Charlotte Dundas. [37]  In February 1888, Dawson wrote again to the Camperdown Chronicle to complain about an article printed in the Argus on 10 February which gave an account of "a model of a steamboat to be seen in the warehouse of James McEwan and Co., Elizabeth street, Melbourne, which is said to date from the successful experiment of William Symington, on Dalswinton Loch." Dawson decried fact that the article had failed to mention the "immortal memory" of Taylor and Miller. [38]  Dawson next wrote to the Argus on 10 November 1888. He had taken exception to an article in that newspaper which announced that the "original model of the steamboat Charlotte Dundas" was an exhibit at the Centennial International Exhibition.  The model had been provided by Rev. Fraser. [39] Referencing sources including Chambers' Journal, Dawson reiterated that credit for the "invention of the steamboat" belonged to James Taylor. Dawson wrote that, encouraged by the success of the Dalswinton trial, "Mr. Miller gave Mr. Taylor instructions to employ Mr. Symington to make a much more powerful engine, the recent invention of James Watt, a native of Glasgow, and to superintend the construction of it, which Mr. Taylor did. The engine was put in a vessel at Grangemouth, called the Charlotte Dundas, which was built in 1801…" [40] 

After he became aware of Dawson's correspondence, Rev. Fraser joined the fray. He felt obliged to respond on behalf of Symington's descendants, whom he numbered among his personal friends. Writing to the Argus from The Manse, Northcote, on 17 November 1888, Fraser denounced Dawson's account of the Charlotte Dundas as "wildly inaccurate." Fraser dismissed Taylor's "fraudulent pretensions", and concluded that Symington was "undeniably the father of steam navigation." However, Fraser mistakenly claimed that the model in the Exhibition was made by William Symington himself. [41] 

Dawson retaliated from Camperdown on 28 November "on behalf of fair play" and reiterated the story of the Dalswinton experiment but strayed from the facts in claiming that Taylor was awarded a pension by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [42] 

Fraser countered on 13 December 1888, citing Woodcroft's 1848 "Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation" and goes on to firmly denounce Taylor: "not a single thing more did Taylor do in connection with steam navigation, till, getting old and poor, he trumped up a claim to be the inventor of the system which is now, by the highest competent authorities, attributed to the ill-used and unfortunate William Symington. In his own lifetime Taylor's effrontery was one of the greatest hindrances to justice being done to the friend of his youth…" [43] 

Writing on 14 January 1889 in response to Fraser's correspondence, Dawson made the point "I advocated the cause of Miller and Taylor from pure love of fair play" and maintained that he could not be accused of having the slightest bias because he never knew Miller or Taylor. Dawson again takes issue with wording on the card in the Exhibition which described the Dalswinton vessel as "The Original Steamboat of William Symington" and he goes on to emphasise        " My intention throughout has been rather to uphold and signalise the claims of still higher import, of its indisputably primary originators, Patrick Miller and James Taylor" [44] 

Fraser dismissed as "childish nonsense" that Dawson had objected to him referring to Milller's 1788 steamboat as "Symington's first steam boat" and at this point the dispute became personal. Dawson had implied that Fraser was biased because he was a personal friend of Symington descendants and Fraser does admit to a friendship with William Symington's daughter-in-law Mrs. Bowie but Fraser enquires accusingly "Is Mr. Dawson prepared to deny that one closely related by marriage to his own family is a descendant of, or nearly related to, the Taylor of Dalswinton of 1788?" [45] 

Dawson would not allow this insinuation of bias to pass without comment and concluded the "interminable" correspondence with a final letter to the Argus on 21 February 1889. Dawson decried Fraser's "mean insinuations" but failed to clarify whether he did have a family connection with James Taylor. [46] 

Dawson's daughter Isabella Park Dawson, who was born at Yarra Yarra Station in 1843 did indeed marry a Taylor in 1877. [47] She died aged 86 on 8 August 1929 at Renny Hill, Camperdown. [48] Her husband was William Andrew Taylor, the son of William Taylor and Katherine Johnston, who was born in 1849 at Dalmeny, near Edinburgh. [49] His father William was provost of Queensferry and was a soap manufacturer who had been in partnership with his father John in the soap making business called John Taylor and Company. William Taylor emigrated to Australia in about 1876. He was a relative of Peter Taylor, a portrait artist, but he had no clear connection with James Taylor. William Andrew Taylor died aged 78 on 28 July 1927. He had inherited a well-known portrait of Robert Burns by Peter Taylor which he would bequeath to the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. [50] Peter Taylor was born near Edinburgh in 1756 and was an interior designer and coach painter. His portrait of Robert Burns was painted from life in Edinburgh in 1786. He moved to the South of France because of poor health and died in Marseilles from tuberculosis in 1788. The portrait was passed down to John Taylor, soap manufacturer of Queensberry and then, by descent, to William Andrew Taylor. James Taylor was born in Leadhills in 1758; Peter Taylor at Edinburgh in 1756. They were not closely related, if at all. Perhaps Dawson believed there was a relationship.

20TH CENTURY

In January 1936, W.J. Symington, (William John Symington J.P. 1889-1969) a great-grandson of William Symington and grandson of William's son Andrew, the clockmaker of Kettle, wrote to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald on the topic of William Symington's engines and his steam boat experiments. In a letter rather spoilt by inaccuracy and errors of fact his intention was to advertise his ancestor as the individual "entitled to the credit of designing the first steam-boat of any practical use." [51] This provoked a tart response from a descendant of James Taylor (his grand-daughter), Mrs. S. Whittle of Strathfield (Sarah Whittle 1868-1945, born in Glasgow, daughter of Robert Taylor 1804-1869 and Sarah Insall), who wrote "Perhaps he has forgotten or he may not know that there is another name more closely connected with the introduction of steam to navigation even than his ancestor's." Mrs. Whittle attempts to substantiate Taylor's claim to the title of "Inventor of Steam Navigation", a claim reiterated in plaques which mark Taylor's residence in Cumnock and on his "tomb-stone in Sanquhar Kirkyard" [52] Her ancestor is in fact buried in the Old Cumnock Cemetery. Not wishing the truth to get in the way of a good story, Mrs. Whittle then wrote to the editor of the Sydney Mail in May 1936 with "a few facts in connection with the application of steam to navigation", alleging that her ancestor had "designed the first steam engine, which was attached to a paddlewheel vessel." [53] She reiterates this error in a letter she wrote to the Melbourne Age in October 1936, in which she alleges that her ancestor had designed the Dalswinton engine "Miller requested Taylor to make drawings of a suitable engine" and concludes with the statement "Only after his death in 1825 was Taylor's claim as inventor of steam navigation publicly recognised, when the then Government bestowed a pension on his widow." [54] 

POSTSCRIPT

By the 1820's, William Symington was living in a state of abject poverty. His attempts to gain compensation for his contribution to the introduction of steam navigation had come at a considerable cost. His court action against Henry Bell had failed. He was unable to obtain any remuneration from the Glasgow steamboat proprietors. His Petition to Parliament and Memorial to Treasury resulted in a meagre financial reward. The preparation of these documents, supported by affidavits and drawings, was a costly exercise. For these efforts, he was awarded the princely sum of £150 from the Privy purse. In contrast, Taylor took a more direct approach in simply writing a letter to Sir Henry Parnell, in which he summarised the background to Patrick Miller's steamboat experiments. Taylor died in 1825 but his widow was awarded an annual pension of £50 which she enjoyed for the rest of her life. She died in 1859 at the age of 92 years. Adding insult to injury, her brief obituary described her Government pension as "a very inadequate one." [55]

MILLER BIBLIOGRAPHY

Miller, Patrick, The Elevation, Section, Plan, and Views of a TRIPLE VESSEL and of WHEELS, with explanations of the figures in the engraving, and a short account of the properties and advantages of the Invention. Edinburgh 1787

A Short Narrative of Facts Relative to the Invention and Practice of Steam Navigation by the late Patrick Miller, Esq. of Dalswinton. Drawn up by his eldest son Patrick Miller Esq.

From the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, July 1825 (NLS Edinburgh Holding 5.5013 (36))

Memoir regarding Symington and Bell's Pretensions to be Considered the Original Inventors of Steam Navigation; Being an Appendix to a Narrative on the Introduction and Practice of Steam Navigation, &c. published in the Philosophical Journal for July 1825. By P. Miller, Esq. Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, July 1827.

Miller, Major-General William Henry C.B., A Letter to Bennet Woodcroft, Esq. F.R.S. Vindicating the right of Patrick Miller, Esq. of Dalswinton, to be regarded as the First Inventor of Practical Steam Navigation London 1862

TAYLOR BIBLIOGRAPHY

Letter to Sir Henry Parnell Bart. Chairman of Select Committee on Steam Boats from James Taylor Claiming for Patrick Miller and Himself the Merit of Introducing Steam Navigation, Dated April 20th, 1824

Memorial by the late Mr. James Taylor, of Cumnock, Ayrshire; presented to the Select Committee of the House of commons on Steamboats, &c., through the Right Hon. Sir Henry Parnell, Bart., on the subject of propelling vessels by steam power. Dated April, 1824. Second edition, with original correspondence sustaining Mr. Taylor’s claims.

Letter to Sir Henry Parnell Bart. Chairman of Select Committee on Steam Boats from James Taylor claiming for Patrick Miller and himself the merit of introducing steam navigation, dated April 20th, 1824; with a supplement 1857

Manuscript document prepared by Mr. Taylor's representative, in which is copied the letter from James Taylor to Sir Henry Parnell Bart. and two further letters in support of Mr. Taylor's claim, the first being from Alexander Fergusson, dated 15 August 1790, and the second from Robert Fergusson, dated 12 October 1790

Includes a further manuscript copy of the letter from James Taylor to Sir Henry Parnell Bart., certified as a true copy of the original by Hamilton Rose, Notary Public, dated March 11. 1857

A Concise History of the Origin of Steam Navigation: comprising its Invention by Mr. James Taylor, and Experiments by him in conjunction with the late Patrick Miller, of Dalswinton, Esq. Compiled from authentic documents. Printed by Peter Brown, Edinburgh 1842

Robert Chambers "The Concise History of the origin of Steam Navigation comprising the invention by Mr. James Taylor" 1842

Taylor, James, A brief account of the rise, and early progress of steam navigation: intended to demonstrate that it originated in the suggestions and experiments of the late Mr. James Taylor of Cumnock, in connexion with the late Mr. Miller of Dalswinton. (Appendix). Ayr McCormick & Gemmell 1844 1844 [56] NLS Edinburgh MMSID: 9931954513804341

REFERENCES

1 Miller, Major-General William Henry C.B., A Letter to Bennet Woodcroft, Esq. F.R.S. 1862

2 William Symington's Petition 29 December 1825 NA T 1/2424/no. 8026

3 NRS OPR 635/10 97

4 Wilson, Tom, Memorials of Sanquhar Kirkyard Dumfries 1912

5 Dr. Bowie's Brief Narrative 1833

6 Taylor, James, Letter to Sir Henry Parnell 1824

7 Symington Testimonial

8 Rankine, J. and W.H., Biography of William Symington Falkirk 1862

9 Obituary, James Taylor, Caledonian Mercury 29 September 1825 page 3

10 Obituary ibidem

11 Miller, Patrick, Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal of July 1827

12 Caledonian Mercury 15 March 1827

13 Caledonian Mercury 9 April 1827

14 Caledonian Mercury 29 September 1827 page 4

15 Also published in Mechanics' Magazine January-June 1845 Vol XLII pages 267-270)

16 Quoted in Taylor's memoir and also published in the Mechanics' Magazine 1834 Volume XXI page 62 and MM January-June 1845 Vol XLII pages 267-270; also reproduced in the Rankine Biography

17 Affidavit dated 31 August 1838 from Alexander Hamilton, writer, of Mauchline 1862; quoted in Miller, Major-General C.B., A Letter to Bennet Woodcroft, Esq. F.R.S. Vindicating the right of Patrick Miller, Esq. of Dalswinton, to be regarded as the First Inventor of Practical Steam Navigation London 1862

18 Mechanics' Magazine Number 475, Saturday, September 15, 1832 pages 385, 386

19 Mechanics' Magazine, Volume 18, December 15, 1832, pages 161, 162

20 Melbourne Argus 18 July 1857 page 9

21 Melbourne Argus Ibidem

22 The Argus 19 November 1888 page 10

23 NRS OPR births and baptisms 668/40 63

24 The Australasian 13 November 1937 page 36

25 Obituary Camperdown Chronicle 21 April 1900 page 3

26 Royal Commission on the Aborigines. Report of the Commissioners 1877

27 The Herald 23 June 1862 page 4

28 Obituary The Herald 19 February 1912 page 3

30 Bacchus Marsh Express 4 October 1879 page 3

31 Bacchus Marsh Express 13 May 1882 page 2

32 Bacchus Marsh Express 4 October 1879 page 3

33 Bacchus Marsh Express 2 June 1883 page 2

34 Letter from Robert Rankine to his father dated 30 March 1910; extract held in the Glasgow Museum of Transport, File Number E/1/1/3/7

35 Obituary, Bacchus Marsh Express 2 November 1929 page 3

36 See Extracts from S.M.V. register cards (D). 17852

37 Camperdown Chronicle 7 January 1888 page 3

38 Camperdown Chronicle 18 February 1888 page 3

39 The Argus 29 October 1888 page 9

40 The Argus 14 November 1888 page 13

41 The Argus 19 November 1888 page 10

42 Argus 1 December 1888 page 9

43 The Argus 15 December 1888 page 12

44 Argus 4 February 1889 page 5

45 The Argus 8 February 1885 page 5

46 Argus 27 February 1889 page 11

47 Vic BDM Reg. No. 2013/1877

48 Vic BDM Reg No 8556/1929

49 SRO OPR 665/30 115

50 PROV Grant of Probate VPRS 7591/P2, 216/652

51 Sydney Morning Herald 25 January 1936 page 14

52 Sydney Morning Herald 30 January 1936 page 6

53 Sydney Mail 27 May 1936 page 26

54 The Age 10 October 1936 page 7

55 The Annual Register, or a view of the History and Politics of the year 1859. London 1860 page 490

56 NLS Edinburgh MMSID: 9931954513804341

APPENDIX

W.J. SYMINGTON'S LETTER TO SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 25 January 1936, page 14

WILLIAM SYMINGTON.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD.

Sir, -  I have read with interest about the celebration of James Watt's invention of steam engines, and am glad that some get their just recognition. I would like to draw your attention to another man who did much for mankind for no reward. I mean William Symington, who wanted financial assistance at the time of the French war. Gladstone would not let him have an advance to enlarge his engine. Some claim that Fulton was the inventor of the first steam engine, but William Symington's engine was commissioned in the year 1788; Fulton's not till 1801, some years later. The history of the invention is taken from Cassell's Encyclopedia. Patrick Miller was experimenting on a paddle-wheel, driven by man power. His experiments were not satisfactory. He employed William Symington to build him an engine, and the vessel was tested in 1788 on the Dalswinter Lock (sic), in the city of Dumfries. The success surprised all who witnessed the incident.

William Symington (1763-1831) is entitled to the credit of designing the first steam-boat of any practical use. The son of a miller, with a mechanical turn of mind, he received a university education, with the view of entering the ministry. Being fond of mechanics, he became an engineer, by more and more interest in the problem of steam navigation, to which he had been introduced by Miller. Symington persevered with his inventions even after the former had abandoned them. He took out a patent for a new type of engine, which far superseded the old Beam engine, James Watts type. It functioned with a rotating movement, obtained by coupling the piston rods with a crank. This was fitted to the Charlotte Dundas (so named after the Earl of Dundas, who financed him to build the engine). The tugboat plyed on the Clyde Canal. The engine proved satisfactory. It developed enough power to tow for nearly 20 miles two barges loaded to 70 tons each. Unfortunately the success was short-lived, as the canal authorities declared that the wash of the paddle-wheels would destroy the banks of the canal, and so the boat was beached on the bank, to be pointed to as "Symington's Folly." The little craft, deserved more than momentary interest, for this turned all subsequent ideas of steamships into the right idea. His simple engine is the nucleus of the fine engines that latterly drove the mighty paddle-wheels. Like many another genius, he died a poor and disheartened man.

The Encyclopaedia says that Robert Fulton was a passenger at the trial, and Symington explained his mechanism. He carried the idea to America, where he built the vessel Claremont (sic). Bell and Fulton reaped where Symington had sown. The glory of unrequited invention once revealed can never be denied.

The model of the Charlotte Dundas and his bust are in the London Museum; there is a replica in Melbourne Technical Museum also. I would be pleased to see my great-grand-parent's name honoured. I am. etc.,

W. J. SYMINGTON, J.P.

Epping, Jan. 23.

REPLY FROM MRS. S. WHITTLE

Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 30 January 1936, page 6

JAMES TAYLOR

TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD.

Sir, -Mr. J. Symington, in his letter of January 25, claims that his great-grand-father, William Symington, is entitled to the credit of designing the first steamboat of any practical use. Perhaps he has forgotten or he may not know that there is another name more closely connected with the introduction of steam to navigation even than his ancestor's. It is a name that was very well known to William Symington. James Taylor (1758-1825), born at Leadhills. Lanark-shire, graduate of Edinburgh University (among his many studies mechanics ranking high), entered the family of Patrick Miller as tutor at the time when he (Miller) was experimenting with paddle-wheels attached to ships to be driven by man-power. Taylor was on board the first vessel thus driven, and even took a turn at the capstan. Realising that to be of "any practical use" some other power was necessary, he suggested to Mr. Miller that steam alone would solve the problem. After much consideration of this "bold, not to say startling, and very extravagant idea," Taylor was requested by Mr. Miller to make drawings of a suitable engine and to show how the engine could be connected with the wheels. This he did, and in due time, Mr. Miller consented to finance the experiment. Superintended by Taylor, castings were made in Edinburgh at the George Watt foundry. Requiring the aid of an engineer to set up the engine, Taylor introduced to Mr. Miller William Symington, also of Leadhills, an old school-fellow and friend. The experiment, carried out in October, 1788, on Dalswinton Loch, a sheet of water on the Miller property, was a complete success, the vessel moving at the rate of five miles an hour. It was chronicled in the Edinburgh newspapers of the period.

A year later a larger engine, still to Taylor's pattern, was constructed (which produced a speed of seven miles an hour). Unfortunately Miller, for some unknown reason, would not, and so Taylor could not, take out a patent to protect the invention; therefore, Taylor's name has dropped out (like many others) of modern accounts. It may be found in the older editions of Chambers' Encyclopaedia, in the Technical Educator, in a pamphlet published in 1834, in which extracts from letters written by Symington to James Taylor are quoted, acknowledging Taylor's claim, and in various other publications known to the writer. These all give pride of place to James Taylor. The house in which he lived on the Ayr-road, Old Cumnock, may still be seen with a plate on the wall, stating that James Taylor, "inventor of steam navigation," dwelt there, His tomb-stone in Sanquhar Kirkyard also bears the same inscription. * Tardy recognition of his claim came after his death, when the then government granted his widow a pension. Surely it is a strange coincidence that the direct descendants of William Symington and James Taylor should be living in Sydney, for I, also, "would be pleased to see my grand-father's name honoured."

I am, etc.,

S. WHITTLE (nee Taylor). Strathfield, Jan. 27.

* James Taylor is in fact buried in the Cumnock Old Cemetery