James Beaumont Neilson (22 June 1792 – 18 January 1865) was a
Scottish inventor whose
hot-blast process greatly increased the efficiency of
smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a c ...
iron.
Life
He was the son of the engineer Walter Neilson, a millwright and later
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...
wright,
who had been a partner of
David Mushet in
Calder Ironworks,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
.
[W. K. V. Gale, ''British iron and steel industry'' (David and Charles, Newton Abbot 1967), 55-8.] He was born in
Shettleston and was trained as an engine wright. After the failure of a colliery at
Irvine he was appointed foreman of the Glasgow Gasworks in 1817 at the age of 25. Five years later he became the manager and engineer there, a position he held for 40 years.
While trying to solve a problem with a
blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheri ...
at
Wilsontown Ironworks
The ruins of the Wilsontown Ironworks are located near the village of Forth in Lanarkshire in Scotland, approximately to the south east of Glasgow. The works were founded by the three Wilson brothers in 1779, and operated until 1842. The works ...
, Neilson realized that the fuel efficiency of the furnace could be increased by blowing it with hot air, rather than cold air, by passing it through a red-hot vessel. Experiments were continued at
Clyde Iron Works, leading to his forming a partnership with
Charles Macintosh
Charles Macintosh FRS (29 December 1766 – 25 July 1843) was a Scottish chemist and the inventor of the modern waterproof raincoat. The Mackintosh raincoat (the variant spelling is now standard) is named after him.
Biography
Macintosh was ...
and others to exploit it. Patents were obtained for the system in 1828.
Experimentation showed that a temperature of 600° Fahrenheit reduced consumption to a third of that with cold blast, and enabled raw
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
to be used instead of
coke, with a further cost saving. It also enabled the exploitation of black band
ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...
, the use of which had previously proved unprofitable.
left, 1840 illustration of a Beaumont Neilson blast stove
In the early 1830s litigation was successfully conducted against those who adopted his methods without licence. After that, Neilson and his partners licensed it widely at one shilling per ton iron made, a level low enough to discourage evasion. The royalties were initially low, but by 1840 were producing £30,000 per year from 58 ironmaste.
Certain infringers were intransigent. Between 1839 and the expiry of the patent in 1842 a considerable number of proceedings were brought. Neilson v Baird was heard in the
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburg ...
in 1843, in a trial lasting 10 days and costing £40,000. Further proceedings against Baird ended in the award of damages of £160,000.
Neilson retired from Glasgow Gasworks in 1847. He bought an estate on Bute. Later he bought an estate at Queenshill, near
Kirkcudbright. There he died.
He is buried in the family mausoleum at
Tongland Kirkyard. His son,
Walter Montgomerie Neilson, erected Neilson's Monument to his memory on the hill at Queenshill in 1883.
Both in Glasgow and near Kirkcubright, he founded institutions for the education of working men.
William Neilson, James's brother, founded the Glasgow engineers and locomotive manufacturers
Neilson and Company
Neilson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Glasgow, Scotland.
The company was started in 1836 at McAlpine Street by Walter Neilson and James Mitchell to manufacture marine and stationary engines. In 1837 the firm moved to Hyde Park ...
, in 1836, partly financed by James. James's son Walter took over the running of the firm in 1843.
See also
*
Neilson v Harford
References
External links
James Beaumont Neilsonfrom ''Memoirs and portraits of one hundred Glasgow men'' (1886)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, James Beaumont
1792 births
1865 deaths
Scottish inventors
People of the Industrial Revolution
Engineers from Glasgow
Fellows of the Royal Society
James Beaumont
James Beaumont (born 11 November 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played in midfield. Beaumont joined Nottingham Forest from Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, ...
Businesspeople from Glasgow
19th-century Scottish businesspeople