William Murdoch, Inventor

 by Roberta McGee

William Murdoch, the inventor of gas lighting, was born at Bello Mill, Lugar in 1754, the third child of John Murdoch and Anna Bruce. 

Father John was born in 1725 at Skerrington Mill, Cumnock. In 1747, when he married Anna Bruce, whose brother James was a land agent for the Dumfries Estate, John was in Orchard farm, Auchinleck. According to a Cumnock Chronicle report of 1975 he had previously joined the army  and fought in Flanders during the Austrian Succession War (1740-1748). He most likely would have fought at Dettingen under Lord Stair. Dettingen was the last time a British monarch led his troops into battle. Dettingen Wood, on the Dumfries Estate, commemorated this great battle of 1743. John also supported the Government Forces during the Jacobite Rebellion.

John and Anna and their family moved to Bello Mill, Lugar in 1754. They were tenants of James Boswell's Estate in Auchinleck. 

John was a farmer, millwright, miller and inventor, who, in 1760, invented the first iron-toothed pinion gear wheel to be made in Britain. Also, with the assistance of his son William, who showed signs of mechanical genius at an early age. 'made a wooden horse on wheels, on which, by the assistance of propelling poles, he used to visit Cumnock' (Source: The New History of Cumnock, John Strawhorn, p58) This predated Kilpatrick MacMillan's first bicycle by about 75 years.

William Murdoch - Image wmgaz.pl

William Murdoch was schooled firstly in Cumnock and then in Auchinleck. He excelled at mathematics and the principles of mechanics under William Halbert, a well respected author of an arithmetic text book. He also assisted his father working in metal and wood. In addition he carried out experiments in coal gas using coal heated in a copper kettle in a small cave by the River Lugar near his father's mill. 

Entrance to Murdoch’s Cave - Image Wikimedia 

In 1777 he (purportedly) walked 300 miles from Lugar to Birmingham to find work at the Soho Works of James Watt and Matthew Boulton. James Boswell, the Murdoch's landlord, had made several visits to the Boulton and Watt factory and most likely gave him a letter of introduction. At first they were reluctant to employ him but then Boulton noticed his wooden hat made on a lathe of his own design. They were so impressed that they gave him a job. So began his career with Boulton and Watt who manufactured steam engines which were used to drain Cornish tin and copper mines. He moved quickly from making patterns for machine parts into fitting and erecting steam engines and also repairing and refining the ones which the company had installed at various pits and factories.  

In 1779 Murdoch was sent to Redruth in Cornwall as their agent and leading engineer where he was responsible for the erection, maintenance and repair of Boulton and Watt steam engines in the Cornish tin mines to make them more efficient at pumping water out of the mines. He was kept busy travelling around the area and, after being met with some hostility initially, because he had also been engaged by Boulton and Watt to make reports against competitors to determine whether patents had been infringed, he became very well respected there. 

On Christmas Eve 1785 William Murdoch married Anne Paynter at St. Mewan, Cornwall. Sadly, it was a short marriage as Anne died five years later following the birth of their son John. 

Whilst based in Redruth Murdoch spent his spare time at his home, Murdoch House, in Cross Street,working on an idea for a 'horseless carriage' known as The Murdoch Flyer. In 1794, in order to see properly, his spare time being in the evening, he illuminated his house with a gas that he had extracted from coal, also putting a lamp outside, thus making Cross Street the first street in the world to be lit by artificial light. The coal gas was generated in an iron retort at the bottom of his garden, then piped into his house, where he lit the rooms with a variety of burners. 

He built several working models of The Flyer, and it is said that he used to travel from mine to mine in a full-sized version which had a portable gas lantern. 

The Murdoch Flyer from original oil painting by Gordon Grogan

In 1795 he demonstrated methods for producing and storing gas at Neath Abbey, South Wales. Back in Birmingham he lit up the Soho factory in 1802 during the celebrations for the signing of the Treaty for  the peace of Amiens, and in 1816 he lit up his newly-built house at Sycamore Hill by gas supplied from the Soho factory. 

Throughout his time in Redruth and Birmingham Murdoch had made many inventions and improvements to the basic steam engine designs used by Boulton and Watt, who took the credit, their excuse being that Murdoch was their employee so whatever he invented while employed by them was, by rights, theirs. In 1786 Murdoch attempted to patent his steam carriage but was talked out of it by Boulton. His employers did all they could to discourage and hinder Murdoch from pursuing his experiments and, it has been argued, by removing evidence of the origin of some of the inventions they patented. Murdoch, however, was entirely loyal to their interests and he proved an invaluable help to Watt, becoming his right-hand man. 

In 1799 Murdoch invented a much simpler and more efficient steam wheel. This was an early version of the steam turbine. It allowed steam pressure to turn a wheel directly. By this time, Murdoch's contract had changed, and he could patent the device himself. 

Image - IQSdirectory.com

Murdoch is best known for being the inventor of gas lighting and inventing the first steam engine carriage in Britain. However, he had many other strings to his bow. Some other examples of his genius are: -

• Sun and Planet Gear and D slide valve. The 'Sun and Planet Motion' which is included in Watt's patent of 1781 was contrived by Murdoch (Lives of Boulton & Watt 1874 p245)
• Oscillating cylinder steam engine
• Steam gun and steam cannon
• Developed the pneumonic tube message system which worked by using compressed air to propel a message in a cylinder through a tube to its intended destination. It became used in big department stores.
• Worked on one of the first British paddle steamers to cross the English Channel.
• Iron cement used to fix and harden the joints of steam engines.
• A special type of paint for ships' bottoms.
• From 1784-1795 built working models of steam engines.
• In 1795 he developed a replacement for isinglass which was used in the clarifying of beer to remove impurities. 
• The bell crank engine
• Making stone pipes (patent 1810). Sold to Manchester Stone Pipe Co. to supply the City with water.
• Stone and wood borers
• In 1807 designed and built the engine for the North River Steamboat, the first steamboat on the Hudson River.
• In 1815 designed and installed the first modern gravity fed piped hot water system at The Royal Pump Rooms in Leamington Spa.
• In 1817 he moved into a large new house which he had built in Sycamore Hill, outside Birmingham. The house had many innovative features such as gas lighting, a doorbell which worked with compressed air and an air conditioning system.

In 1808 Murdoch was awarded the Rumford Gold Medal, which bears the inscription Ex Fumo dare lucem, which translates as 'to give light from smoke'. This was for 'both the first idea of applying, and the first actual application of gas to economical purposes'.

In 1882 the National Gas Institute founded the Murdoch Medal which is awarded periodically to the authors of useful inventions connected with gas making. 

The town of Redruth holds an Annual Murdoch Day in June. In 2007, they had a parade and the first public journey of a full-sized working copy of Murdoch's Steam Carriage. The whole day is dedicated to the legacy of his creativity and innovation. Thousands of people flock into the town for the festival with street entertainment, workshops, food, street stalls, steam engines, a traditional fairground and the Murdoch Day Parade. (Source: Celebrating Murdoch Day - Discover Redruth)

William Murdoch died 15 November 1839 at his Birmingham home and was buried in St Mary's Churchyard, Handsworth, Staffordshire, England near the graves of Watt and Boulton. There are statues of him at the Wallace Monument, Stirling and in Centenary Square, Birmingham. In 2019 William Murdoch was added to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame. A truly remarkable man.

Gilded bronze statue of Boulton, Watt and Murdoch in Centenary Square, Birmingham
Image - Wikimedia Creative Commons Attribution License

William Murdoch on the Cumnock Connections tree