| 词条 | Patrick Miller of Dalswinton |
| 释义 |
Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, just north of Dumfries (1731–1815) was a Scottish banker, shareholder in the Carron Company engineering works and inventor. Miller is buried in a tomb against the southern wall of Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh. Early life and careerMiller was born in Glasgow, the third son of William Miller of Glenlee, and his wife, Janet Hamilton. After attending the University of Glasgow, he decided to take up banking as his trade, since the Scottish economy was growing. By November 1760 Miller became partners with William Ramsay of Barnton, merchants and bankers, in Edinburgh. In 1767 he was elected to the court of the Bank of Scotland where he implemented a number of reforms, particularly the introduction of note exchange, whereby the bank agreed to accept notes of its competitors. Thanks to his improvements, the bank successfully endured a banking crisis in 1772.[1] In his final years he served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Scotland, being succeeded by Adam Rolland of Gask FRSE upon his death.[2] Invention and naval pursuitsWhile looking after shipping interests overseas, Miller experienced firsthand the dangers of piracy on his ocean voyages. These brushes with privateers combined with his time on the ocean sparked a lifelong interest in ordnance and naval architecture.[1] WarshipHe attempted to interest various European navies in his design for a super warship, but only Sweden showed any notable interest; their great naval architect Chapman called it the "English (sic) sea-spook". The Swedish king Gustav III, as thanks for the actual vessel, Experiment of Leith, that Miller sent him, despatched Miller seeds of the swede in a magnificent snuff-box, featuring marine illustrations, now in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.[3] Pleasure boatsMiller was particularly interested in multiple-hulled pleasure boats propelled by cranked paddle wheels placed between the hulls. On seeing a steam-carriage model made by the engineer William Symington (or on the suggestion of Symington's friend James Taylor), he got Symington to build his patent steam engine with its drive into a twin-hulled pleasure boat. This was successfully tried out on Dalswinton Loch near Miller's house on 14 October 1788. The next year a larger engine was fitted to a {{convert|60|ft|adj=on}} long twin-hull paddle boat and tried on the Forth and Clyde Canal. After initial problems of paddle wheels breaking up on 2 December, the vessel travelled some distance along the canal on 26 December and 27 December 1789. Miller abandoned the project due to the rising expenses of the venture. Charlotte DundasTen years later, Lord Dundas restarted Symington's work on a steamboat, leading to the famous paddle steamer, Charlotte Dundas. References1. ^1 {{Cite web|url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18733|title = Miller, Patrick (1731–1815)|date = Sep 2013|accessdate = 19 Aug 2014|website = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; online edn|publisher = Oxford University Press|last = Moss|first = Michael S.}} 2. ^The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Review, Sept 1819 3. ^"[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O114793/box-fyrwald-friedrich/ Box]" (With images of the box), Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 19 October 2014
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9 : 18th-century Scottish businesspeople|Scottish inventors|Naval architects|1731 births|1815 deaths|Scottish bankers|Bank of Scotland people|People from Dumfries and Galloway|Alumni of the University of Glasgow |
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