JAMES CARMICHAEL, the celebrated engineer, whose name is so
intimately associated with the rise and progress of Scotch, engineering, was
born in Glasgow in the year 1776. His father, Mr George Carmichael, was the
senior partner of the firm of Messrs George and James Carmichael, Brothers,
merchants in the Trongate,
Glasgow. James had the misfortune to lose his father when only ten years of age
; and his mother, having disposed of her share of the business, returned, with
her family of five children, to her native place—the village of Pentland, in
Midlothian. In due time, James Carmichael was bound apprentice as a country
millwright to his maternal uncle, a Mr Umpherston, of Loanhead, who was the
fourth generation of the same family who had carried on the trade
of millwrights in the same place. It need hardly be remarked, that, in this
retired village of Midlothian, seventy-five years ago, there were none of the
opportunities for obtaining knowledge now so common, and so easily procured by
young men, in the shape of libraries. In fact, few books on the subject of
mechanics and mill work were at that time in existence. Mr Umpherston, however,
was a person of more than ordinary intelligence, and procured all the
information he possibly could, in connection with his profession, which he
freely imparted to his apprentices. Under such an able and conscientious
instructor, young Carmichael—who, at very early age, had given striking
indications of possessing a highly mechanical genius—obtained a thorough
knowledge of his trade, and became, indeed, a skilled workman. At the expiry of
his apprenticeship, he went to Glasgow, and entered the service of
Messrs Thomson & Buchanan, cotton spinners, Adelphi Works. As indicating the
very intimate acquaintance with the science of mechanics and engineering which
he had even at this early period, it may be mentioned that, while in the
employment of this firm, he assisted Mr Buchanan in getting up the ' Tables ' of
his treatise on Mill Work—which treatise still continues to be an Important work
on this subject; and in Brunton's Compendium of Mechanics, ' Carmichael's Tables
' are published for reference.
Mr Carmichael's younger brother Charles, who had also served his apprenticeship
at Loanhead, came to Dundee in the year 1805, and commenced business as a
millwright in company with a Mr Taylor, under the firm of ' Taylor & Co.' The
contract of copartiery was for five years ; and at the end of this period,
Charles requested his brother James to come and join him in Dundee. To this
James at once agreed ; and having disposed of a small property which he had
inherited at Crossmaloof, near Glasgow, to Mr Thomson, his employer, he came to
Dundee in the year 1810. The business of the two brothers was at first confined
to millwright work ; but about this period a great impetus was given to the
spinning of flax by machinery in Dundee, in consequence of the large orders from
Government, during the great French war ; and this soon induced the firm to give
their attention to the making of steam engines. In a short time, the firm of
James and Charles Carmichael came to be known throughout all the
flax-manufacturing districts as makers of stationary engines ; and the character
for sound workmanship gained by the fathers is well sustained by the sons to the
present day.
In 1821, the firm fitted up the first twin steam-boat for the ferry across the
Tay at Dundee. This vessel succeeded so well, that mother, of the same
construction, was built and put on the passage in 1823. An account of the ferry,
with a description of the machinery, was published in the Edinburgh
Philosophical Journal,
by Captain Basil Hall, R.K, from which the following extract is taken :—
In the year 1815, there were twenty- five boats, or pinnacles, as they were
tiled, on this passage, manned by upwards of a hundred men and boys. There were
no regular hours of sailing, and passengers had either to hire a
boat, or wait until a sufficient number of passengers had assembled to make up
the fare. Accommodation for the transport of carts, cattle, &c, there was none.
In the year previous to the first steamer being put on the passage, the number
of passengers was about 70,000. In 1824—only three years after the numbers
were—passengers, 100,536; carriages, 130; gigs, 474; cattle, 6627; sheep,
15,449; horses, 477; loaded carts, 2562.
In the construction of the machinery of these twin steam-boats, several new and
important improvements were introduced by Messrs Carmichael. They invented a
method of working and reversing the engines from the deck of the vessel, which
was a long step in advance in the perfecting of the steam-engine ; and it was
applied with complete success to the engines of the twin-steamer George IV.
The hand-gearing for starting and stopping the engines was situated on the deck
of the boat, and all concentrated upon a small table in view and hearing of the
man at the helm, or the master, who directed both when coming to the quay. On
this table were certain words indicating the function of each handle—such as '
Go ahead,' * Go astern.' It is related that a sapient townsman, crossing for the
first time after the new gear had been fitted to the boat, glanced at the table,
and seeing the last-named inscription, said:
" George Aastern !—fa 's he? I aye thocht thir engines wis made
by Carmichael."
The introduction of this invention soon led to the use of
steamers and engines of the same construction on the ferry
between Newhaven and Burntisland, and on many other ferries both in this and in
other countries—a description of the machinery being published and made the
common property of the trade. (See the Practical Mechanic's Magazine for 1842).
At this period, there were comparatively few tools in use in the iron trade ;
and an important addition was made to them when the Messrs Carmichael invented
their useful planing, shaping, and boring machine. They supplied the Government
factories of Woolwich and Portsmouth with this admirable machine ; and a drawing
of it is given in Rennie's large work on Tools.
In 1832 and 1833, the Messrs Carmichael made the first locomotive steam-engines
for the Dundee and Newtyle Railway- the first locomotives made in Scotland.
These engines did their work most efficiently for more than thirty years,
although they did not cost more than one-third of the price of the heavy
locomotives of the present day.
The invention for which the Messrs Carmichael were most celebrated, however, was
the Fan Blast or Blowing Machine, for heating and melting iron. This simple yet
effective machine was first brought into practical operation by these gentlemen
about the year 1829 ; and shortly afterwards they, in the. most liberal manner,
communicated it to the public, so that it soon came into general use, both in
the United Kingdom and in foreign countries. Its
chief advantages were—cheapness of construction, producing double the quantity
of air by the application of the same power as was formerly used, and, the blast
being perfectly steady, the metal was much sooner melted, and rendered more
soft, than under any other process previously applied. It was also found equally
efficient in blowing smiths' forges. A very material saving was accomplished in
the expense of fitting up, and great economy in the space occupied, compared
with the old method of blowing by bellows ; while the iron, being brought to a
welding heat in one-half of the time, a much greater amount of work was done by
the same number of hands. Although a highly profitable patent might have been
made of this machine, the inventors freely gave the use of it to the trade, and
were ever ready to show it at work, and give all information on the subject.
This liberality could not pass unnoticed ; and accordingly, early in the year
1841, a public subscription was got up, and a handsome service of silver plate
was presented to each of the brothers, at a banquet given them at Glasgow by
members of the iron trade in that city and elsewhere. The inscription on the
various pieces of plate presented to Mr James was as follows :-
Presented to James Carmichael, Esq., Engineer, Dundee, by a few-
Friends in the Iron Trade, in testimony of their deep sense of the liberal
manner in which he and his brother have permitted the unrestricted use
of their valuable invention of the ' Fan Blowing Machine. ' Glasgow, April
1841.
Charles Carmichael was born in 1782, and died on May 13, 1843. James, who, as
has been already stated, was born in 1776, died at Fleuchar Craig, Dundee, on
Sunday, Aug. 14, 1853.
In July 1872, as the result of a suggestion made in the Dundee Courier by some
of the old workmen of the firm, who still held in honour the memory of their old
employers, a movement was originated to erect a statue to Mr James Carmichael. A
public meeting was held, at which a resolution was adopted approving of the
proposal ; and the necessary funds were soon afterwards obtained. Whilst this is
written, competitive designs are in course of preparation by eminent sculptors
for a bronze statue of Mr James Carmichael, which will be erected in Albert
Square—one of the most prominent positions in Dundee—in commemoration of his
ingenuity, engineering skill, and generosity.
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