William SymingtonDied 22 Mar 1831 (born Oct 1763).British mining engineer who developed (1801) a successful steam-driven paddle wheel and used it the following year to propel one of the first practical steamboats, the Charlotte Dundas, commissioned by Lord Dundas and designed for the Forth and Clyde canal. Symington used a piston rod coupled to a crankshaft by a connecting rod, a design that was to become standard for steam ships. The 56-ft craft successfully underwent trials on the canal proving herself capable of towing two barges of 70 tons along a 19.5 mile stretch in 1801. The boat was abandoned shortly thereafter at the canal company's Tophill depot at Camelon near Falkirk, because of concern that the wake from her stern paddle wheel would damage the banks. |
