William Symington

marine and mechanical engineer, "the first individual who ever effectually applied the power of the steam engine to the propelling of vessels"

Engineering Achievements

He began work as an engineer at Wanlockhead lead mines where his older brother George was instrumental in the purchase of a Boulton & Watt engine in 1777.

In 1784 Symington began experimenting with his own designs for an atmospheric steam engine. By 1786 William had designed and built a model steam driven road carriage, improving and simplifying Watt’s engine by combining the ‘simplicity of the Newcomen design with the separation of the working cylinder from the condenser that was necessary to an efficient engine’ (Harvey & Downs-Rose,1974). With the backing of the Wanlockhead Mines’ owner, Gilbert Meason, Symington patented his engine design in 1787.

Symington became interested in using steam power for marine propulsion and built boat engines for Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, an Edinburgh banker. In 1788 first trials of a steam powered vessel were carried out on Dalswinton Loch, Dumfriesshire. This original engine is now in the collections of the Science Museum Group, London. The trials were sufficiently promising that Miller commissioned another larger engine to be trialled on the Forth and Clyde canal with the aim of providing auxiliary power for sailing vessels (Harvey, 1976), however, these trials were not a success and his relationship with Miller broke down.

Symington found a new sponsor for his marine propulsion ideas in Thomas, Lord Dundas of Aske, Governor of the Forth and Clyde Navigation Co. who commissioned two experimental canal tugboats using Symington’s engines. The first Charlotte Dundas was launched in 1801 and repeatedly towed boats along the canal and Carron River to Grangemouth. The Duke of Bridgewater ordered 8 vessels if the second trial proved successful, but died soon after the trials, before the contract could be confirmed.

The second Charlotte Dundas II in 1803 took advantage of the lapse in Watt’s patent, and utilised Symington’s designs for a horizontal cylinder powered single stern-paddlewheel via a crosshead and crank. The Navigation Company did not take up his designs as they feared the waves caused by the paddle wheels would damage the banks of the canal. Meanwhile, others copied or patented their own steam navigation designs and much of Symington’s life was subsequently spent defending his designs and trying to recoup monies spent on his experiments. Symington’s initial designs and experiments in steam powered vessels preceded other inventors in this field by almost 20 years, such as Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat on the Hudson in 1807 , and Henry Bell’s Comet on the Clyde in 1811. 

He was also responsible for designing pumping engines used in mining including his ‘improved atmospheric steam engine’ which replaced the Boulton & Watt engine at Wanlockhead lead mine in 1789.

An unsuccessful court case and the lack of support from backers of his designs impacted his health, compounded by heavy drinking, and in 1829 he moved to London to live with his daughter. He died there in March 1831 and is buried at St Botolph’s church, Aldgate.

His Life

1. 1764 born in Leadhills, Dumfriesshire. His father was an engineer with the Scots Mines Company
2. c 1778 Age: c 14 assisting his brother George, engineer at Wanlockhead mines
3. 1786 Age: 22 built an experimental model of an improved steam engine
4. 1786 Age: 22 Mine manager Gilbert Meason sent William to take classes in anatomy, surgery, and chemistry where he was taught by William Cullen, Joseph Black, and John Robison
5. 1787 Age: 23 Alexander Fergusson describes Symington in a letter to Henry Dundas as 'one of the first rate mechanical geniuses this country ever produced'
6. 1787 Age: 23 In June, patented his improvements to the steam engine, helped by Meason
7. 1787 Age: 23 made a working model of a steam carriage for demonstration to possible backers
8. 1787 Age: 23 in the autumn, invited by Edinburgh banker Patrick Miller yo design and build a steam engine to power one of his experimental paddle boats
9. 1788 Age: 24 In October, first trials of a steam-propelled vessel took place on Dalswinton Loch, Dumfriesshire
10. 1789 Age: 25 From June, Carron Company finances William to develop his engine
11. 1789 Age: 25 On 2 and 3 December, trials in the presence of the partners in the Carron Company carried out on the Forth and Clyde Canal
12. 1790 Age: 26 married Elizabeth Benson from Carron.
13. 1790 Age: 26 on retirement of John Smeaton as engineer to the Carron Company, took over some of his duties
14. 1794 Age: 30 became manager of the Kinnaird mines after the death of owner/manager James Bruce
15. 1796 Age: 32 accused by Boulton and Watt of infringing their patents
16. 1800 Age: 38 Thomas, Lord Dundas, a director of the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, asked him to supply the engines for a vessel
17. 1801 Age: 39 In August, trials of Charlotte Dundas only partly successful
18. 1803 Age: 39 On 4 January, trials of Charlotte Dundas II more successful, but splashing raised worries of bank erosion
19. 1804 Age: 40 became a partner of Callendar Colliery , near Falkirk, that ended in a legal dispute
20. 1829 Age: 65 Paid by James Watt to write up his experiments, published that year
21. 1831 Age: 67 died on 22 March in London, at the home of his daughter. Buried in St Botolph's, Aldgate.

Legacy

His designs pre-dated the Comet’s first voyage on the Clyde and similar designs in the USA giving Symington precedence as the true pioneer of steam navigation over both Henry Bell and Robert Fulton.

More Information

Symington, W. ‘A Brief History of Steam Navigation 1787-1803’ reprinted from the original Falkirk 1829 copy by James Blaikie late of Panmure Foundry, Edinburgh, 1863

‘An Account of Mr. Symington’s New Steamboat’ Journal of the Royal Institution, 1802

"William Symington as a Pioneer in Steam Navigation. The Engineer. 1902

Bowie, R. ‘A brief narrative proving the right of the late William Symington to be considered the inventor and introducer of steam navigation’ London, 1833

Harvey, W.S. & Downs-Rose, G, ‘Mr. Symington’s Improved Atmospheric Engines’ paper to the Science Museum, London, March 1974

Harvey, W. S. ‘The steamboat engines of William Symington’ Chartered Engineer, CME Institute of Mechanical Engineers, September 1976, pp.120-123

Harvey, W. S. and Downs-Rose, G  ‘William Symington : inventor and engine builder /’ Northgate Publishing Co., London, 1980 ISBN 085298443X

Rankine, J & WH, ‘A biography of William Symington, civil engineer and inventor of steam locomotion by land and sea’ Falkirk, 1862

Taylor, J ‘A narrative of the invention of steam boats’ Edinburgh, 1834

Woodcroft, B. ‘A sketch of the origin and progress of steam navigation’ London, 1848

William Symington, by TH Beare. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (free to UK library subscribers)

Grace’s Guide entry: William Symington - Graces Guide

A replica of the 1788 Dalswinton steam boat made for the Glasgow Garden Festival, is at Dalswinton, Dumfries https://www.glasgowgardenfestival.org/object_record/dalswinton-steam-boat/

A ¾ size replica of the Charlotte Dundas was built by Falkirk Council as a YTS scheme in 1987-1990. Afterwards she was displayed at Grangemouth, the Falkirk Wheel and then kept at Arbroath from 2005 until Falkirk Council authorised that she be broken up in 2015. Summary and photos in its decayed state here: https://www.falkirk.gov.uk/coins/viewSelectedDocument.asp?c=e%97%9Db%91i%80%8E

A smaller model of the Charlotte Dundas engine and other artefacts is in Falkirk Museums: https://collections.falkirk.gov.uk/objects/31806/model-ship-charlotte-dundas

Charlotte Dundas Heritage trail, from the Kelpies to Grangemouth: https://charlottedundas.com/william-symington/

Harvie, C, Harvey, B and Crompton, J The first practical steamboat : William Symington and the Charlotte Dundas / Scottish Industrial Heritage Society (SIHS) Grangemouth 2003

A memorial to Symington was erected at Wanlockhead mine and is maintained by the museum: Beam Engine | Museum of Lead Mining (leadminingmuseum.co.uk).


National Museum Collections

‘Symington's original experimental marine steam engine with two vertical cylinders (1788), designed by William Symington for Patrick Miller and tested at Miller's Dalswinton estate, later re-erected by John Penn and Sons in 1854 after having been acquired for the Museum’ Original marine steam engine | Science Museum Group Collection

Marble bust of William Symington, engineer, and constructor of the first successful experimental steamboat, 'Charlotte Dundas', by D.W. Stevenson, 1890, Presented by Sir W. Thomson and other subscribers to the Symington Memorial Fund, on display at National Museums Scotland, ref. T.1922.97

Model of Charlotte Dundas, William Symington's paddle steamboat of 1803, wood, based on a sketch in the Journal of the Royal Institution of 1802, made to the scale 1/24, 1984, in the collections of National Museums Scotland, ref. T.1984.98

Snuffbox of varnished oak inscribed 'Oak of Symington Steamer / Charlotte Dundas / Built 1801', by Smith of Mauchline, in display at National Museums Scotland, ref. H.NQ 355

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