William Murdoch, sometimes spelled Murdock, was born on August 21, 1754, and died on November 15, 1839. He was a Scottish chemist, inventor, and mechanical engineer. He worked for the company Boulton & Watt in Cornwall for ten years. After that, he spent most of his life in Birmingham, England.
Murdoch invented the oscillating cylinder steam engine. He is also credited with developing gas lighting in the early 1790s and creating the term "gasometer." However, Jean-Pierre Minckelers, a Dutch-Belgian scholar, had already written about coal gasification and gas lighting in 1784. Minckelers used gas to light his auditorium at the University of Leuven starting in 1785. Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald, used gas to light his family estate from 1789 onwards.
Murdoch improved the steam engine with inventions like the sun and planet gear and the D slide valve. He also created the steam gun and the pneumatic tube message system. He worked on one of the first British paddle steamers to cross the English Channel. In 1784, he built a prototype steam locomotive. He also made several discoveries in the field of chemistry.
Murdoch continued working for Boulton and Watt, and later became a partner, until the 1830s. However, his achievements as an inventor are often overshadowed by the fame of Matthew Boulton, James Watt, and the company they founded.
Early life
William Murdoch was born in Bello Mill near Old Cumnock in Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the third of seven children and the first son to live past infancy. His father, John Murdoch, was a former artillery gunner and a millwright who worked as a tenant at Bello Mill on the estate owned by James Boswell in Auchinleck. William studied at the Old Cumnock Kirk School until he was ten years old, then attended Auchinleck School under William Halbert, the author of a well-known arithmetic textbook. William showed strong skills in mathematics. He also learned basic ideas about how machines work, practical experimentation, and working with metal and wood by helping his father. Around 1763, William and his father built a "wooden horse," which was a tricycle that moved using hand cranks. Some reports suggest William may have helped build a bridge over the River Nith. This might be connected to his father’s work on the Craikston Bridge over Lugar Water in 1774, which William likely assisted with. William also tested how coal gas could be used by heating coal in a copper kettle inside a small cave near his father’s mill.
Birmingham
In 1777, at age 23, Murdoch walked to Birmingham, a distance of more than 300 miles (480 km), to ask for a job with James Watt, a steam engine maker. Both Watt and Murdoch likely knew each other because of their connections with James Boswell, who had visited Watt's workshop at Soho several times. Matthew Boulton, Watt's business partner, was impressed by Murdoch's wooden hat, which he made using a lathe he designed himself. This led Boulton to hire him. Murdoch began his career with Boulton and Watt in the pattern workshop at their Soho Foundry, where he created models used to make machine parts. By 1778, Watt wrote:
He changed his name to "Murdock" when he moved to England. Murdoch later worked on installing and setting up steam engines. He was frequently sent from Soho to do this work.
By 1779, Boulton was writing to Watt:
During his first solo job installing an engine at Wanlockhead Mine, Murdoch made the first of many improvements to the standard Boulton and Watt engine. He rearranged the gears so the steam valve could operate automatically through the movement of the exhaust shaft.
Cornwall
In September 1779, Murdoch was sent to Redruth in Cornwall as a senior engineer, responsible for building, maintaining, and repairing Boulton & Watt steam engines. These engines were used to pump water out of tin mines, and how well they worked directly affected how much tin and money could be mined. At that time, steam engines were not sold but instead operated and maintained by the builders for groups or individuals called "adventurers" (people who shared the costs and profits). The engine makers were paid based on a special calculation that depended on how well the engines performed, as described by Watt.
Because of this, Murdoch’s ability to get the most from the engines helped Boulton & Watt make more money. By 1782, Boulton was writing about how successful Murdoch had been. However, steam engines often had problems, so Murdoch spent much of his time traveling to repair and improve them.
In Cornwall, many engineers competed with each other, using different methods to achieve the same results. This led to copying of ideas and breaking of patents, sometimes through overheard conversations or observing changes to engines. Watt was especially worried about his patents being broken, so Murdoch was asked to write reports and give legal statements to help Boulton & Watt take action against their competitors. In the close-knit community of Cornwall, this work sometimes put Murdoch at risk. As one of his colleagues told Watt:
This early copying of ideas did not only happen one way. Murdoch was also asked to inspect competitors’ engines to check if their designs broke Boulton & Watt’s patents or to see how well those engines worked.
Mechanical improvements and inventions
While working in Cornwall, Murdoch faced many mechanical challenges with steam engines. These problems led him to improve the basic steam engine designs used by Boulton and Watt. From 1782, there is evidence that Murdoch worked closely with Watt on several inventions and improvements. However, few letters from Murdoch to Watt between 1780 and 1797 exist in the Watt archive. Some historians, like John Griffiths, suggest this may be because Watt’s son, James Watt Junior, tried to protect his father’s reputation by removing records about inventions Watt patented. It is likely that Murdoch’s employment contract, like those of other Boulton and Watt workers, stated that any inventions he created would belong to his employers. Often, Boulton and Watt filed and benefited from patents on these inventions.
One of Murdoch’s most important inventions was the sun and planet gear. This device allowed steam engines to create continuous circular motion, which powered machines like mill wheels. The gear used a vertical beam from the engine to turn a "planet" (a small cogwheel) around a larger "sun" (another cogwheel) connected to the drive shaft. This system helped Boulton and Watt avoid a patent held by James Pickard. James Watt patented the sun and planet gear in October 1781, though some evidence, including a drawing by Murdoch from August 1781, suggests he may have invented it. A letter from Boulton to a colleague also mentions this invention in connection with Watt’s 1781 patents.
In 1799, Murdoch invented a simpler and more efficient steam wheel, which acted as an early version of a steam turbine. This wheel used steam pressure to turn directly, improving efficiency. By this time, Murdoch’s contract had changed, allowing him to patent this invention in his own name.
Murdoch also experimented with compressed air. He created the first pneumatic message system, which used air pressure to send messages through tubes. This system was later used by the London Pneumatic Despatch Company and was adopted by businesses like Harrods until the 1960s. Murdoch also used compressed air to ring a bell at his home to signal visitors.
Other inventions and experiments by Murdoch included a machine for drilling wooden pipes (later adapted for stone pipes in 1810), a steam cannon used in 1803 to knock down a wall at Soho, a steam gun that fired 3 cm lead bullets the same year, and machinery to grind and compress peat moss into a material resembling jet.
Steam powered locomotion
William Murdoch created an important invention for which he receives less credit than expected: Britain's first working model of a steam carriage, or road locomotive, in 1784. Earlier, French engineer Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot had already built two full-sized steam vehicles between 1769 and 1770, one of which could carry 4–5 tonnes. All that remained was to improve the design for better performance.
The first known record of Murdoch’s plans for this invention appeared in March 1784, when his colleague in Cornwall, Thomas Wilson, wrote to James Watt about Murdoch’s “new scheme.” Watt responded by saying the idea had no future and tried to stop Murdoch from continuing, fearing he might leave his work in Cornwall.
Later, a letter from Boulton revealed more details of Murdoch’s ideas. In the same letter, Boulton secretly encouraged Watt to include a steam-powered carriage in his patent application, which Watt did shortly after.
By this time, Murdoch had already built a working model of his steam carriage (now displayed in the Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum). Witnesses reported that the model moved around Murdoch’s living room in Redruth in 1784. This was the first recorded example in Great Britain of a man-made machine moving on its own power.
Murdoch’s model was a three-wheeled vehicle about one foot tall. The engine and boiler were placed between the two larger back wheels, with a spirit lamp underneath to heat the water. A tiller at the front turned the smaller front wheel. The model included several new features, such as a boiler safety valve, a cylinder partly submerged in the boiler, and a new valve system similar to the D-slide valve.
Murdoch made more than one model. By August 1786, he had built at least one other model of a different size. Between 1784 and 1786, Murdoch focused less on his invention due to his heavy workload for Boulton and Watt, his marriage in 1785, and the birth of his twins that same year. After the twins were born, Murdoch tried to patent his steam locomotive but was persuaded by Boulton to return to Cornwall without registering the patent.
In 1795, Murdoch demonstrated his steam carriage at the King’s Head hotel in Truro. This was the first public demonstration in Britain of steam locomotion in action.
Although there is no mention of Murdoch’s steam carriage work in letters from Watt or Boulton after 1786, some evidence suggests he continued experimenting on his own. Some people believe he may have built a full-sized version later.
One story says Murdoch once tested his model on the road, and it moved so fast he had to chase it. While chasing it, he met a local clergyman who was very upset, thinking the carriage looked like the devil because of the smoke and fire. This story might be true, but it likely refers to a model, not a full-sized carriage.
Another story claims Murdoch used a steam-powered carriage lit by gas to travel between mines. However, this is probably not true because the roads at that time were too poor for such travel. Some historians, like John Griffiths, suggest Murdoch may have built a full-sized steam carriage in the 1790s, which could be the source of this story.
In 1797 and 1798, Richard Trevithick lived in Redruth, near where William Murdoch lived from 1782 to 1798. Trevithick likely saw Murdoch’s experiments and was influenced by his work. Murdoch’s son, John, later said that Trevithick and Andrew Vivian visited to see a model engine in 1794.
Without support from Boulton and Watt, who opposed the use of high-pressure steam (which Watt distrusted), Murdoch could not develop or promote his invention. Later, Trevithick and others took over the development of steam locomotives for commercial use.
Chemistry discoveries
In addition to his work with machines, Murdoch also studied chemistry and made several important discoveries. One discovery was the creation of iron cement in 1784. This cement was made from sal ammoniac, or ammonium chloride, and iron filings. Murdoch noticed this mixture accidentally formed a solid mass in his tool bag. The iron cement was used to strengthen the joints of steam engines, creating a strong and lasting seal.
Another discovery was the first for which Murdoch received a patent. This patent was filed in 1791. Although the invention was not developed further at the time, it marked the beginning of the development of aniline dyes and coatings.
In 1795, Murdoch created a replacement for isinglass, a substance used to clarify beer by removing impurities. Isinglass was imported from Russia and cost 25 shillings per pound. Murdoch’s alternative was made from dried cod and was much less expensive. The cost savings were so significant that the Committee of London Brewers paid £2000 for the right to use his invention.
Murdoch’s isinglass replacement was highly effective. In a court case, British Customs and Excise Authorities asked Sir Humphry Davy, a noted chemist, if Murdoch’s product was suitable for clarifying beer. Davy confirmed it was appropriate.
Use of Murdoch’s "Isinglass made of British fish" continued and helped reduce British brewers’ dependence on imported materials.
Gas lighting
The most important invention for which Murdoch is known is the use of gas lighting to replace oil and tallow for producing light. In 1792, he began experimenting with gas made by heating coal and other materials. Some believe these experiments happened in a cave. There is uncertainty about when he first showed this process working, but most sources say it was between 1792 and 1794. A few years before Murdoch, Jean-Pierre Minckelers, a Dutch-Belgian scholar, was the first to use gas lighting on a practical scale.
To use gas for practical purposes, it was necessary to develop a way to produce and capture it. The exact date when this process was perfected is unclear. However, many accounts say that by 1794, Murdoch was making coal gas using a small container with heated coals and a three- or four-foot iron tube. He used this tube to pipe the gas through an old gun barrel and then lit it to create light.
Murdoch’s home in Redruth was the first private house lit by gas. Over the next few years, he tested the amount and quality of gases from different materials and studied the best ways to transport, store, purify, and use them for lighting. According to William Fairbairn, Murdoch sometimes used his gas in a portable lantern.
In 1798, Murdoch returned to Birmingham to work at the Soho foundry, where he continued his gas experiments. He lit parts of the Soho building’s interior, though not the entire building at that time. In 1802, he publicly demonstrated his lighting by illuminating the outside of the Soho Foundry during celebrations for the Peace of Amiens. The first industrial factory fully lit by gas was the Philips and Lee cotton mill in Manchester, which Murdoch completed in 1805. Initially, the mill had 50 gas lights, but this number grew to 904. The time needed to complete the project was partly due to Murdoch’s experiments to improve gas lighting for large factories, such as purifying gas with lime to remove its smell and finding the best temperature to heat coal for maximum gas production. During this time, Murdoch also worked on other projects for Boulton and Watt.
Despite his early work with gas, Murdoch never earned money from this invention because he did not obtain a patent. This may have been influenced by advice from James Watt, Jr., who said the discovery was not patentable, and by the failure of his earlier 1791 patent for an early form of aniline dye. This lack of a patent allowed others, like his former assistant Samuel Clegg and Frederick Albert Winsor, to take advantage of the growing gas industry. Boulton and Watt, who dominated the factory and mill lighting market by 1809, did not expand into street and home lighting. The reason for this lack of effort is unclear but may have been due to little interest, failure to recognize the size of the potential market, or a lack of desire to work on smaller projects. By May 1809, Boulton and Watt faced little competition because they successfully lobbied Parliament to block a charter for the National Heat and Light Company, their main competitor. However, their advantage was lost when they did not develop the gas market or technology, and in 1814, they abandoned the gas business. By the 1830s, most British towns were lit by gas, and many had their own gasworks.
In addition to lighting and heating, producing coal gas created other useful substances. These included coke, ammonia, phenol (carbolic acid), a disinfectant and a component of bakelite, the first synthetic plastic made in 1910, and coal tar, which contains organic chemicals. Coal tar was later used to create the first synthetic dye, mauve, by William Henry Perkin in 1856. In 1853, Charles Gerhardt discovered that coal tar contained acetylsalicylic acid, now known as aspirin.
The Caledoniapaddle steamer
Boulton and Watt helped with early efforts to use steam power on boats. In 1807, they provided the engine for Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat, the first steamboat to travel on the Hudson River (later called the Clermont). Murdoch designed and built this engine and worked with Fulton to finalize technical details. Boulton and Watt also supplied engines for other boats. However, their serious involvement in marine engineering began in 1817 when James Watt Jr. purchased The Caledonia. Refitting The Caledonia required installing new engines, boilers, and making the ship seaworthy and fuel-efficient. Murdoch, who often had health issues like fever and rheumatism, led this work. By August, the ship was tested on its route from Surrey Commercial Docks, London, to Gravesend, initially reaching speeds of 8 miles per hour (mph). During trials, Murdoch tested how changes in paddle depth and engine use affected fuel use and speed, increasing the ship’s speed to 12 mph (19 km/h).
During trials, The Caledonia raced against the Sons of Commerce, a competitor on the London to Gravesend route. The Boulton and Watt ship won both races, with a larger margin in the second. This led the Sons of Commerce to order a new steamboat engine from Boulton and Watt. Other orders followed, including from commercial customers and the Royal Navy. Murdoch became the leader of Boulton and Watt’s marine engineering work and was consulted on all related matters. Between 1813 and 1825, Boulton and Watt produced over 3,000 horsepower (2,200 kW) marine engines for about 40 to 60 ships.
After trials, The Caledonia crossed the English Channel, traveling to Rotterdam and up the Rhine to Koblenz under Watt Jr.’s guidance.
Later years
In 1808, Murdoch wrote a paper titled "Account of the Application of Gas from Coal to Economical Purposes" and shared it with the Royal Society. That same year, he received their Rumford Gold Medal for being the first person to both suggest and use gas for practical purposes.
In 1817, Murdoch moved into a large new home he built outside Birmingham. The house included several interesting and new features he designed, such as gas lighting, a doorbell powered by compressed air, and a system to cool the air. Joshua Field described the cooling system as "a good stove for heating the rooms with hot air that enters the rooms and staircases at convenient places." In 1815, Murdoch designed and installed the first gravity-fed, piped hot water system since ancient times at the Royal Pump Rooms in Leamington Spa.
In September 1830, at age 76 and in poor health, Murdoch ended his partnership with Boulton & Watt, which had begun in 1810. At that time, he was earning £1,000 per year. The partnership likely ended because Boulton & Watt was becoming less profitable, and Murdoch’s health was worsening. Murdoch died in 1839 at age 85 and was buried at St. Mary's Church in Handsworth.
Honours and awards
In 1892, during the 100th anniversary celebration of gas lighting, a statue of Murdoch was presented by Lord Kelvin at the Wallace Monument in Stirling. Another statue of him, created by Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey, is located at St. Mary's Church.
Murdoch's life and achievements are honored in Birmingham through the Moonstones, a statue of him and Boulton and Watt by William Bloye, and Murdock Road. A building named Murdoch House is also located in Rotherhithe, London.
The town of Redruth holds an Annual Murdoch Day every June. The 2007 event featured a parade of students carrying banners with the theme "Earth, Wind, Fire and Water," and the first public ride of a full-sized, working replica of Murdoch's Steam Carriage.
In 2019, Murdoch was added to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.