David Napier by David Napier and David Bell: Note 8
8. PATRICK MILLER, 1731-1815
The earliest recorded attempts made in Scotland to propel vessels by mechanical means appear to have been those of Patrick Miller, of Dalswinton, Dumfriesshire. He came of a good family, being youngest son of William Miller of Glenlee, Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and brother of Sir Thomas Miller, who was created a baronet, and Lord President of the Court of Session in 1788. Patrick was born in Glasgow in 1731, and spent some years of his youth at sea, thereby acquiring the special interest in nautical pursuits which he afterwards exhibited. On leaving the sea he commenced business as banker in Edinburgh, and, having realised a handsome fortune, purchased the estate of Dalswinton in 1785. Prior to that time he had carried out many experiments in the propelling of vessels by paddle- wheels wrought by manual power, and in 1787 he published a pamphlet on the subject which indicated the possibility of steam-power being tried in a subsequent experiment, a suggestion having been made to him by James Taylor that a steam-engine could be applied to drive the wheels. A vessel named Edinburgh, built in that year, was the eighth he had experimented with. She was a triple-hull vessel, the narrow hulls connected by the deck and upper-works, with paddle-wheels working in the spaces between them. The wheels were wrought from a hand-power capstan connected by gearing to the axis of the paddles, and the vessel's speed was about four to four and a half miles per hour. In 1786 Miller had met William Symington and examined his model steam carriage, and on hearing Symington's explanations as to the manner in which his engine could be applied to boat propulsion, he authorised him to have a small engine designed and made that would suit a double-hull boat which was then lying at Dalswinton Loch. This little craft, 25 feet long, was accordingly fitted with a two-cylinder engine, the cylinders 4 inches diameter, and 18 inches stroke, which is now preserved in the South Kensington Museum, London. It was constructed according to Symington's first patent, atmospheric type, working the paddles by ratchet-wheels and chains. The boat was tried in October, 1788, and is said to have had a speed of about five miles per hour. Miller then resolved on having another experiment on a larger scale, with a boat also of double-hull form, but 60 feet in length. He instructed Symington to have the engines for this boat made under his own supervision at the Carron Iron Works. The cylinders were 18 inches diameter and 3 feet stroke; the power, as before, being transmitted to the wheels by ratchet gear. This vessel was tried on the Forth and Clyde Canal in December, 1789, giving a speed of six and a half to seven miles per hour. Miller now found himself, on the score of cost, unwilling to undertake further experiments, especially as he came to see that the style of engine employed was unsuitable for steamboat propulsion. This fact had been proved by the experience of many previous experimenters, and there was therefore nothing novel or extravagant in his discovery that the atmospheric engine was "the most improper of all steam-engines for giving motion to a vessel"; although it is true that improved engines of that type were so used successfully in later times. (See note 3.)
Miller at this stage unfortunately abandoned the idea of propulsion by steam; but his continued confidence in manual-power apparatus survived, and led him, in 1796, to procure a patent for the same system of mechanism which he had used originally and for so many years. With this retrograde step, unaware apparently of what the double impulse engine could have effected, or wholly distrusting the suitability of steam-power, his efforts in connection with steam navigation came to a premature close. The Narrative drawn up by his son Patrick, in 1825, claims that "it cannot be disputed in point of fact that he (Miller) had fully established the practicability of propelling vessels of any size by means of wheels or revolving paddles, and of adapting to these the almost boundless powers of the steam-engine." This claim must of course be looked at in view of the very limited results actually attained, in view also of the credit due to Symington as the actual engineer, and the claims of inventors of prior or contemporaneous date must also in justice be recognised. On the testimony of Sir Charles G. Stuart, of Monteath, Miller was regarded by his fellow-countrymen as "one of the chief and most distinguished inventors and learned authorities of his day in Scotland, so far as the features and history of her shipping was concerned"; undoubtedly his name will hold a permanent place in the history of steam navigation as a most enterprising pioneer. He died at Dalswinton on 9th December, 1815, aged eighty-four, and was buried in the family burying-ground, Greyfriars churchyard, Edinburgh.
James Taylor, 1753-1825, having been Symington's school companion at Leadhills, and his fellow-student in Edinburgh, was aware of the improvements which the latter had made upon the steam-engine, and of his success in constructing a steam-propelled road carriage. When he entered Mr. Miller's service, as tutor to his sons, in 1785, Miller was engaged in his earlier experiments, and came to know through Taylor of Symington's work in designing an engine and making a road carriage. He then arranged with Symington to construct the small engine referred to in the preceding note, and fit it into his boat at Dalswinton. It fell to Taylor as Miller's assistant to conduct correspondence with Symington from time to time, and attend to the arrangements connected with the experiments which followed in 1788 and 1789. In 1824, — thirty-six years later, and nine years after Miller's death — Taylor put forward a claim that he, in conjunction with his late employer, had been the real inventor of steam navigation, Symington being represented as simply the operative mechanic who had carried out their ideas. The facts bearing upon this claim are to be found by a comparison of the statements in the following publications:
1824. Memorial by James Taylor to Parliamentary Committee.
1825. Short Narrative Relative to the Invention, etc., by Patrick Miller, junior.
1829. Brief History of Steam Navigation, by William Symington.
1833. Brief Narrative relative to Symington's Work, by Dr. Robert Bowie.
1842. Concise History of the Origin of Steam Navigation, published apparently by or for Mrs. Taylor.
1848. Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation, by Bennet Woodcroft.
1857. Reprint of Taylor's Memorial, with Correspondence, by Thomas Carswell.
1862. Biography of William Symington, by J. and W. H. Rankine.
It cannot be doubted that Woodcroft, an independent and competent authority, stated correctly the conclusion to be drawn from a careful examination of the above-mentioned narratives. He wrote: "it is clear from his own statements and those of his friends that he [Taylor] was neither the inventor of the machinery by which either of these boats was driven, nor of the mode of connecting the engines to the boats and wheels. This, it is admitted by Mr. Taylor and his friends, was done by Symington; neither was Mr. Taylor the first person to suggest the use of the steam-engine to propel boats. His merits then with reference to the origin and progress of steam navigation rest entirely upon his having successfully urged Mr. Miller to try steamboat experiments, and in having devoted his time and attention in superintending the preparation of his boats for trial."
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