The Industrial Revolution in Scotland did not happen overnight but the Scots already had a reputation for the design of agricultural implements and the improvement of machinery, such as Small's new plough design (1763) Andrew Meikle's power-driven threshing machine (1786) and Patrick Bell's horse drawn reaper (1826).

In America, Hugh Orr (1717 - 1798) of Lochwinnoch was responsible for the introduction of the first tilt hammer, new ploughing tools - and guns for the American revolutionaries.

Scots had acquired a reputation for proactive thinking and the middle classes of the day were rapidly becoming entrepreneurs developing new ways of manufacture and grasping the oportunities that arose from the Industrial developments in the Scottish Lowlands.

Following the American War of Independence there was an impetus to the cotton industry in Scotland and the use of new technology brought from Lancashire. This saw the likes of Neil Snodgrass of Glasgow inventing the scutching machine used in wool preparation (1792); William Kelly of New Lanark who applied power to Compton's mule (1790) and Archibald Buchanan who built the first integrated cotton-mill (1807).

This expansion led to other demands in bleaching, dying and printing, thus the Vale of Leven enjoyed greater prosperity and saw the foundation of the St. Rollox chemical works, the biggest chemical works in the world in its day, making bleaching powder.

From my perambulations round the internet I knew of the US patent Office index and had noted some six patents held by Orrs all in the field of industrial chemistry. I was therefore delighted when a researcher gave me information of a privately printed book "Orr's Zinc White - The First Fifty Years" printed by the Imperial Smelting Corporation in 1948 and the story of an innovative home grown chemist, John Bryson Orr (1840 - 1933), who was born in Blantyre, Lanarkshire.

To read more about JB Orr and his innovative process for the manufacture of paint, read his story on Famous Scots at The Gathering of the Clans.

Back to Scottish Industry and Inventors.