226:, in 1801–2; the Report proceeds—"These ingenious men made valuable experiments, and tested well the mighty power of steam. Still no practical uses resulted from any of these attempts. It was not till the year 1807 when the Americans began to use steamboats on their rivers, that their safety and utility were first proved. But the merit of constructing these boats is due to natives of Great Britain. Mr Henry Bell of Glasgow gave the first model of them to the late Mr Fulton of America and corresponded regularly with Fulton on the subject. Mr Bell continued to turn his talents to the improving of steam apparatus, and its application to various manufactures about Glasgow; and in 1811, constructed the
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202:, who, addressing their lord-ships on the occasion, said, "My Lords, if you do not adopt Mr Bell's scheme, other nations will, and in the end vex every vein of this empire. It will succeed (he added), and you should encourage Mr Bell." Having obtained no support in this country, Bell forwarded copies of the prospectus of his scheme to the different nations of Europe, and to the United States of America. "The Americans," he writes, "were the first who put my plan into practice, and were quickly followed by other nations." The various attempts which preceded that of Bell are briefly noticed in the "Fifth Report of the
185:"Bell had many of the features of the enthusiastic projector; never calculated means to ends, or looked much farther than the first stages or movements of any scheme. His mind was a chaos of extraordinary projects, the most of which, from his want of accurate scientific calculation, he never could carry into practice. Owing to an imperfection in even his mechanical skill, he scarcely ever made one part of a model suit the rest, so that many designs, after a great deal of pains and expense, were successively abandoned. He was, in short, the hero of a thousand blunders and one success."
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198:, on purpose to show his lordship and the other members of the Admiralty, the practicability and great utility of applying steam to the propelling of vessels against winds and tides, and every obstruction on rivers and seas, where there was depth of water." Disappointed in this application, he repeated the attempt in 1803, with the same result, notwithstanding the emphatic declaration of the celebrated
181:. His ambition was to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and become a civil engineer, and to this end, he joined the Glasgow corporation of wrights on 20 October 1797. He was unsuccessful, apparently due to either lack of money, or lack of application or skill on his part. According to one contemporary:
252:, where his wife undertook the superintendence of the public baths, and at the same time kept the principal inn, whilst he continued to prosecute his favourite scheme, without much regard to the ordinary affairs of the world. In 1809 Henry Bell was elected as the first Provost of Helensburgh.
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Touched by his condition, the late Dr
Cleland, and a number of other benevolent individuals, commenced a subscription on his behalf, by which a considerable sum was raised. The trustees on the river Clyde granted him an annuity of ÂŁ100, which was continued to his widow.
138:, builders and engineers. He grew up at the local mill in Torphichen, where developed a working knowledge of water power. Work carried out by members of the Bell family included the design and construction of
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made a delivery voyage from Port
Glasgow 21 miles upriver to the Broomielaw, Glasgow, then sailed from Glasgow the 24 miles down to Greenock, making five miles an hour against a head-wind.
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between
Glasgow, Greenock and Helensburgh three times a week, returning on alternate days, "to ply upon the River Clyde from Glasgow, to sail by the power of air, wind, and steam."
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Bell lived to see his invention universally adopted. The Clyde, which first enjoyed the advantages of steam navigation, became the principal seat of this description of
324:) a trip which took four days, but on 13 December 1820 the Comet was shipwrecked in strong currents at Craignish Point, near Oban. Bell built another vessel,
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295:(some sources give a date of 18 January 1812 for a trial trip, McCrorie gives 6 August 1812 for the delivery, with the historic trip a day or so later.)
218:, in 1736; the Duke of Bridgewater, on the Manchester and Runcorn canal; Mr Miller of Dalswinton; the Marquis de Jouffroy (a French nobleman), in 1781;
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sank very quickly, killing 62 of the 80 passengers on board. After the loss of his second ship, Bell abandoned his work on steam navigation.
134:, West Lothian in 1767. He was the fifth son of Patrick Bell and Margaret Easton, themselves members of a family well known at the time as
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The idea of propelling vessels by means of steam early took possession of his mind. "In 1800 (he writes) I applied to
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with the engineer Mr James Inglis, which was then followed by several years working in London under the engineer
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and throughout the United
Kingdom. Henry Bell was educated at the local parish school and was apprenticed to a
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110:(7 April 1767 – 14 November 1830) was a Scottish engineer who helped to pioneer the development of the
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214:, June, 1822, Sir Henry Parnell, chairman." Mentioning the following as experimenters, namely, Mr
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which had been visible for several months in 1811–12, was built by Messrs John Wood and Co., at
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churchyard. An obelisk to his memory was erected on the rock of
Dunglass, a promontory on the
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The ingenious Mr Bell : a life of Henry Bell (1767-1830), pioneer of steam navigation
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between 1780 and 1783. Three years later, he was briefly apprenticed to his uncle, a
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547:"Helensburgh, Clyde Street West, Esplanade, Monument To Henry Bell (197521)"
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114:. He is mostly widely known for introducing the first successful passenger
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402:. There is a memorial stone and obelisk on the seafront at Helensburgh.
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750:. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. pp. 200–03 – via
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575:"Clyde Street West, The Esplanade, Monument to Henry Bell (LB34743)"
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lengthened and re-engined and from
September 1819 ran a service to
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Bell's Comet. How a Paddle
Steamer Changed the Course of History
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PS Comet sailing on passenger service on the River Clyde 1812
497:"Dunglass Castle, Obelisk, Memorial To Henry Bell (232088)"
654:. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
328:, but, on 21 October 1825, she collided with the steamer
162:. In 1787, he pursued his interest in ship mechanics in
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In August, Bell advertised a passenger service on the
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Ian McCrorie, Orr, Pollock & Co. Ltd., Greenock,
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Henry Bell and the Comet – Clyde
Waterfront Heritage
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173:He returned to Scotland around 1790, and moved to
458:The Ingenious Mr Bell by Brian D Osborne, 1995
748:A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen
675:. Vol. 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
8:
686:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
680:Moss, Michael S. "Bell, Henry (1767–1830)".
525:"Obelisk Memorial to Henry Bell (LB14400)"
376:in 1830, aged 62. He was interred in the
289:as it widens into the Firth of Clyde. The
244:In 1808, Bell moved to the modern town of
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263:In 1812, he and John Robertson built the
760:https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Henry_Bell
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683:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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359:Grave of Henry Bell in Rhu churchyard
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304:Bell briefly tried a service on the
190:Interest in steam power for shipping
659:Wood, Henry Trueman Wright (1885).
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672:Dictionary of National Biography
662:"Bell, Henry (1767-1830)"
573:Historic Environment Scotland.
545:Historic Environment Scotland.
523:Historic Environment Scotland.
789:Significant Scots – Henry Bell
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493:Historic Environment Scotland
177:, where he worked as a house-
700:UK public library membership
248:, on the north shore of the
154:. In 1786, he went to work
118:service in Europe in 1812.
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758:Henry Bell - Graces Guide
285:on the south bank of the
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829:Scottish businesspeople
711:. Amberley Publishing.
651:Encyclopædia Britannica
612:Osborne, Brian (1995).
599:Clyde Pleasure Steamers
777:7 October 2011 at the
738:Thomson, Thomas Napier
707:Ransom, P.J.G (2012).
616:. Glendaruel: Argyll.
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224:Forth and Clyde Canal
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168:John Rennie the Elder
814:People from Bathgate
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743:"Bell, Henry"
645:"Bell, Henry"
332:off Kempock Point,
824:Scottish inventors
819:Scottish engineers
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308:. Then he had the
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698:(Subscription or
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447:Ransom 2012
432:Ransom 2012
374:Helensburgh
287:River Clyde
246:Helensburgh
212:Steam-Boats
200:Lord Nelson
136:millwrights
87:Nationality
76:Helensburgh
798:Categories
784:Torphichen
752:Wikisource
702:required.)
406:References
344:Later life
265:steam-boat
231:steam-boat
152:millwright
148:stonemason
128:Torphichen
108:Henry Bell
54:Torphichen
46:1767-04-07
25:Henry Bell
580:7 October
558:7 October
530:7 October
508:7 October
468:Wood 1885
400:Dumbarton
320:(via the
179:carpenter
164:Bellshill
116:steamboat
112:steamship
775:Archived
740:(1857).
632:48362448
384:, about
338:Comet II
326:Comet II
283:Greenock
270:PS Comet
144:Scotland
140:harbours
132:Bathgate
90:Scottish
80:Scotland
58:Scotland
669:(ed.).
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552:Canmore
502:Canmore
393:⁄
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206:of the
175:Glasgow
130:, near
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382:Clyde
368:Death
310:Comet
299:Comet
291:Comet
239:Comet
228:Comet
100:Comet
713:ISBN
628:OCLC
618:ISBN
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582:2021
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
