STEVENSON'S BUST

David Watson Stevenson RSA 1842-1904 was engaged to make a bust of William Symington which he modelled on the post mortem plaster cast made by Dr. Bowie and a drawing by D.O. Hill. Then the  property of the widow of Bennet Woodcroft, these items were held in the Science Museum in London.

The Stevenson bust was first suggested after Mr. H. Adolph Salvesen of Grangemouth had delivered a lecture on steam navigation about a year beforehand. [1]  Salvesen was a man of some influence. Being of Norwegian descent, Henry Adolph Salveson (1860-1924) was a mechanical engineer, naval architect and ship owner. [2] Recognising that there was then no memorial to William Symington, a committee was formed to raise funds for a bust by public subscription. Salvesen and Mr. Hugh MacPherson were the joint secretaries of the Grangemouth Symington Memorial Committee which was set up in 1888, the centenary of the Dalswinton steamboat trial. The eminent sculptor David Watson Stevenson (1842-1904) was commissioned to make the bust. Stevenson is best known for his statue of William Wallace which stands at the Wallace monument outside Stirling.

Sixty years after the death of William Symington, Sir William Thomson unveiled the marble bust of the inventor. The unveiling ceremony, which was held in the Museum of Science and Arts at Edinburgh, was reported in the Saturday 22 November 1890 edition of the Glasgow Herald and also in the London Times of the same date. [3] Among those present at the unveiling was a grand-daughter of William Symington, Mrs. Dickie, of Glasgow. 

The bust and pedestal are made from white marble. The height of the bust is 2ft. 5 1/4 inches and of the pedestal 3 ft. 9 1/2 inches. [4]

The pediment of the bust was inscribed "William Symington, engineer, born at Leadhills, Lanarkshire 1764; died at London 1831. In 1786 he constructed for Patrick Miller, Esq. of Dalswinton the first successful experimental steam boat and in 1801-2 designed and built at Grangemouth for Lord Dundas the first practical steam vessel, the Charlotte Dundas." In flat relief, on either side of the pediment were simple representations of the Charlotte Dundas and of William Symington's steam carriage. 

Stevenson's bust was first displayed in the Edinburgh International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry, which was set up to recognise the opening of the Forth bridge. [5]  The Exhibition ran from May to November 1890. The bust remains on display in the National Museum at Edinburgh.

The Falkirk Herald published a communication from Salvesen, headed "The Symington Memorial", on 2 September 1891, which included two letters from a Symington family friend, J.A. Lyon, and a letter from the sculptor Stevenson dated 19 August 1891 in which he refers to the post-mortem plaster bust.

[1] Falkirk Herald 16 November 1889 page 5

[2] Salvesen wrote "An Account of the Origin of Steam Navigation", (based on Woodcroft) published in the Transactions of the Scottish Society of Arts, Volume XII Edinburgh 1891

[3] Note also articles in the Falkirk Herald 22 November 1890 page 5 and 26 November 1890 page 6

[4]  Royal Scottish Museum, Registered number 1890.1039, scroll register entry.

[5] Falkirk Herald 1 October 1890 page 5