Chapter XVI
William Fairbairn
Summary of progress in machine-toolsWilliam Fairbairn’s early yearsHis educationLife in the HighlandsBegins work at Kelso BridgeAn apprentice at Percy Main Colliery, North ShieldsDiligent self-cultureVoyage to LondonAdventuresPrevented obtaining work by the Millwrights’ UnionTravels into the country, finds work, and returns to LondonHis first order, to make a sausage-chopping machineWanderschaftMakes nail-machinery for a Dublin employerProceeds to Manchester, where he settles and marriesBegins businessHis first jobPartnership with Mr. LillieEmployed by Messrs. Adam Murray and Co.Employed by Messrs. MacConnel and KennedyProgress of the Cotton TradeMemoir of John KennedyMr. Fairbairn introduces great improvements in the gearing, &c.of mill machineryIncreasing business Improvements in water-wheelsExperiments as to the law of traction of boatsBegins building iron shipsExperiments on the strength of wrought ironBritannia and Conway Tubular BridgesReports on ironOn boiler explosionsIron constructionExtended use of ironIts importance in civilizationOpinion of Mr. CobdenImportance of modern machine-toolsConclusion
INDUSTRIAL BIOGRAPHY.