biography
pronunciation:
[simington]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1763–1831)
|
| biography:
| Engineer and inventor, born in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire, WC Scotland, UK. He became a mechanic at the Wanlockhead mines. In 1787 he patented an engine for road locomotion and, in 1788, constructed a similar engine on a boat, having twin hulls with paddle-wheels between. In 1802 he completed at Grangemouth the Charlotte Dundas, one of the first practical steamboats ever built. It was intended as a tug, but vested interests prevented its use, asserting that the wash would injure the sides of the Forth and Clyde Canal. |
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