William Young - b. 1840

 

      1. William Young ¹  was born on 8 Aug 1840 in , Galashiels, Selkirk, Scotland. He died on 1 Mar 1907 in Priorsford, Peebles, Scotland. He was buried on 5 Mar 1907 in St Andrew's Cemetery,Peebles plot 338.

William married (1) Catherine Allison ²  on 26 Dec 1864 in Eglinton St.,Tradeston,Glasgow,Scotland. Catherine was born in 1830/1838 in Cupar (Fife) Scotland. She died on 6 Jul 1896 in 15 Marchmont St,Edinburgh.

William married⁴  (2) Agnes Stewart ³ . Agnes was born on 13 Sep 1846 in Peebles (Peeblesshire) Scotland. She died on 28 May 1923.

Appendix A  -  Notes

1.  William Young

As Michael Cotteril states in the Dictionary of Scottish Business Biography: "William was a second generation

gasworks engineer with a technological and entrepreneurial flair which gave him a pre-eminence in the

industry and a widespread practice as a consultant engineer. A brilliant industrial chemist whose work was

his hobby, William had no time for frivolities or outside interests. His retiring nature shunned the publicity that

would have dispelled his obscurity. Despite this disposition, technical editor Walter King found him a 'very

human, warm hearted, true friend, and transparently honest of purpose.' Enthusiasm, a piercing intellect and

remarkably retentive memory kept William at the forefront of developments. One of the greatest authorities

on destructive distillation of coal and shale, he also specialised in by-product recovery and fractional

distillation and gasification of oils. From 1893 until his death he was a close adviser to the Government Alkali

Inspector, R F Carpenter."

"The investment pattern in the Scottish gas industry left little scope for talented engineers to profit from their

skills by direct ownership. Like waterworks, heavy investment in immovable distribution pipes made

monopoly supply the most cost-effective and inhibited rivalry or forced competitors into price-fixing

agreements. Monopoly was normal, but was only tolerated uneasily by consumers, from companies owned

largely by numerous resident consumer-investors, or municipal authorities. William had other ideas. Bright

gas engineers profited mainly as consultants, employed to plan and perhaps supervise construction or

alteration of gasworks elsewhere in Britain or abroad. Some also patented equipment, manufactured by

ironworks for sale to the industry. William gained from both fields, and went further by promoting a company

to supply under licence the oil-gas process he invented."

As Cotteril points out: "In youth William assisted his father's extensive practice of analysing the gas potential

of coals. and paraffin oil in shales, for industrialists. He may also have helped in experimental projects and

with planning the improved water-supply for Dalkeith. Science was an exciting novelty in the household. John

was one of the first Scots to make artificial carbons for electricity, and gave public lectures on electricity,

chemistry and optics. William certainly assisted with winter evening-classes in science which his father ran at

home for young Dalkethians."

Scientific Hall, Dalkeith

"William was an idealist and hater of waste. Brought up under Puritan influences, and suffering moderately

weak health throughout his life, he later rejected religious dogma yet was considered extremely high

principled and a friend to many in need."

"During the mid 1850s, William gained the patronage of Peter Brash a soap, candle and oil manufacturer with

Messrs Wm Taylor & Co of Leith. Brash had an eye for chemical technology, lent him science books, and

encouraged William to attend public lectures in Edinburgh given by Dr Lyon Playfair and other scientists."

"He then became an apprentice gasfitter or 'plumber', under Lasswade gas manager Alexander Bell (1836-

1910). Bell had trained the same way at Dalkeith under William's father before building Lasswade gasworks

to John's designs. Bell's son, Alexander Jnr, later assisted William's experiments. Apprentice William was an

innovator, often castigated by Bell for disturbing the conservative workshop routine. As a journeyman fitter he

quickly introduced a new system of rolling lead for pipes, which trebled productivity. In 1863 Bell left to

manage Gibraltar gasworks, and William at 21 became manager at Lasswade, with a tied-house and annual

salary of £75."

"Without a market for the gas, some was burned as fuel to heat the horizontal retorts but most was wasted.

This inspired William's attempts to minimise gas production and maximise oil, and led to the study of retort

design which remained central throughout his life. Improvements came with deep 'charges' of shale reducing

air-spaces, and false-bottomed retorts to prevent the furnace gasifying oil droplets. Real success only came

with vertical retorts and the replacement of steam-injection by 'exhauster' fans blowing incondensible gas

down the retort to flush all oil-vapour out through its base."

"About 1866 William left Lasswade gasworks, to become Brash's manager at Messrs Taylor's oilworks in

Musselburgh, and Oakbank, Straiton. Oil companies proliferated after the expiry of 'Paraffin' Young's

exclusive patent (1850-1864) and stiff competition was increased by the scarcity of good quality oil shales

which rapidly rose in price. Moreover, imports of North American crude oil, exploited since 1859, pushed

British oil price down heavily in 1866. The industry still used horizontal retorts which baked and discoloured

the oil, making it unattractive to customers. Retorts were small and furnaces large, wasting fuel, causing

rapid deterioration of retorts, and preventing the recovery of ammonium by-products which were increasingly

profitable at gasworks."

"Brash financed further development in return for half of the profits, and became joint patentee with William in

1866. William soon sold his share of the retort patent for ?3,000, but Brash later made more when it was

quite widely adopted. William's new retort of 1868 achieved the ideal uniform low red heat which 'Paraffin'

Young had advocated 20 years earlier but had been unable to maintain. Some, with an expensive double-

casing, were erected at Oakbank in 1871. George Beilby, works chemist there from 1869, recalled fierce

controversy between proponents of horizontal and vertical retorts. In 1872 William patented a better, single-

casing design using 'spent shale' at the bottom as fuel to heat the top. By burning residual carbon this

curtailed the public nuisance of smouldering shale-bings. Retort labourers found it too complex and William

lost his rewards to a similar but simplified version by N. M. Henderson in 1873, which swept the industry."

"At Oakbank, Beilby was obliged to operate both types and from 1878 began improving William's design. A

gifted pupil of 'Paraffin' Young's chief chemist, John Galletly, he was well equipped for the task, and later

became wealthy through his Cassel chemical company."

"William joined Clippens Oil Company of Paisley in 1874 and ran their experimental plant at Straiton, using

low temperatures to recover ammonia. Later, with Alex Bell Snr, who became its chief engineer, he designed

a large new oilworks for them at New Pentland. In 1877 he patented a process to manufacture petrol, then

called gazolene, but in the absence of petrol-engines its main use was to make an illuminating gas called

carburetted air, using a small apparatus suitable for private houses."

Cotteril continues: "Virtually all coal-gas in Scotland until the 1880s was used for illumination from open-

flame burners. Its 'candle power' required a carefully balanced mixture of heat-generating and of soot-

generating hydrocarbons. Fine carbon soot became incandescent momentarily before burning away. The

development of Welsbach gas-mantles using incandescent minerals permitted the soot chemicals to he

phased out, and great improvements made in calorific value for cooking and heating only after 1885.

William's first marketable gasworks equipment, for improved 'candle power', was the 'Analyzer' developed in

1874-5 with Henry Aitken of Falkirk, a coal-mine owner and experimentalist at Almond Ironworks. Used at

Hamilton and Dalmarnock. it released illuminants by rewarming tar, but was uneconomical. William's water-

washer, tried at Lanark in 1880, enabled small gasworks to produce ammoniacal liquor for the boom market

in sulphate fertilisers, and was very widely used."

"ln 1874 a full scale experiment to produce coal gas in four large vertical retorts was made at Musselburgh

gasworks, managed by family friend Andrew Scott. Non-caking Scottish coal suited vertical retorts with great

potential advantages, particularly reduced heat loss and deterioration, and automatic gravity feed instead of

slow and skilful manual emptying and recharging. Failure resulted from water-gas dilution, and inadequate

heat without C. W. Siemens' revolutionary producer-gas furnaces and heat- regenerators. At Straiton, with

Alex Bell Jnr, William developed a radically improved two-phase version of his shale-oil retort with steam

injection to recover ammonia. Beilby also had devised improvements and in 1881 they collaborated to make

the famous Pentland Retort, with producer and regenerators. This doubled ammonia recovery, improved

paraffin yield, resuscitated the industry, and made William wealthy. He retired to Priorsford House, Peebles,

as a consultant engineer."

"For John Fyfe of James Young's Paraffin Co he sought methods of making permanent oil-gas from low

value heavy-oils. Helped again by Alex Bell Jnr, then gas manager at Peebles, his very successful 'Peebles

Process' of high-candle power enrichment for coal-gas found an eager market since best cannel coal used

for enrichment had become very scarce and expensive in 1892. To market it, William formed the Oil Gas

Enrichment Co in 1893 [with George Beilby and sixteen other oil and gas engineers]. The process was used

at 30 gasworks by 1896, including the main Scottish towns, but William's work on an improved version in

1893 permanently damaged his health."

"Many gasworks had adopted horizontal 'regenerative' retorts with higher temperatures causing unwanted

naphthalene deposits. Samuel and Thomas Glover, who had used the Peebles Process at St Helens

gasworks, visited William for advice about this and with him visited several oil works. They were so

impressed with vertical retort efficiency that they persuaded him to help them design vertical gas retorts. The

first Glover-Young retort of 1905 gave high caloric gas, coke and by-products, and became a market leader."

"Though the death of Mr. William Young, of Peebles, yesterday afternoon was not unexpected, the feeling of

regret to which the removal from our midst of so distinguished a man gives rise is just as strong as if it had

come suddenly upon us. I have known Mr. Young for twenty years -latterly much more intimately than at the

first. Like everyone else, I was never in his company but I learned something from him. He was a man for

whom the frivolities of life had no attraction. Yet he was one of the happiest of men whenever he found

anyone willing to discuss with him some of the problems he had always seething in his mind. It was

interesting to hear him relate how he advanced from point to point in the consideration of a particular subject.

He was ignorant of finality. When he had reached a certain stage, that was to him firm and sure ground; next

time you saw him he was farther on. and saw the thing from a different standpoint. yet maintaining the

continuity of his inquiry. The subjects that were next his heart were also on the tip of his tongue. He could

speak without cessation upon them, but let him be asked to (say) propose a vote of thanks, and he could not

command the language to do it. Probably this quality of his character was accentuated by the state of his

health. which shut him out from all sociality, and drove him to his study and his laboratory. For a man who

was nearly all his life far from being robust, the amount of work which he accomplished was amazing."

"This country -Scotland in particular- is much the richer in that she produced such a son as William Young.

The mind is led to reflect upon what has been Mr. Young's reward for all his toil on behalf of his countrymen.

A competency he secured, which is matter for gratification. But honours did not come his way. When we

consider that some have risen into celebrity, even earned titles and been admitted into the highest society,

whose qualifications have been no more than a versatile imagination, or a capacity for selling groceries, and

that here is one who, grappling with the secrets of Nature, has brought millions of pounds sterling into the

pockets of the people, yet has been allowed to die without a single title or letter of distinction to his name,

and in such obscurity that the leading newspaper in Scotland to-day bestows no more than twenty five lines

of print to his memory, we are forced to the conclusion that the system of awarding honours in this world

stands very much in need of amending. He received honour, universally, among his scientific brethren; but

the world at large, which benefited by his labours, knew him not. Surely, now that he has passed away, his

name will not be allowed to be forgotten..."

Sources

  1.  World Connect Project pages of  Roger Kelly, http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kosmoid.

  2.  World Connect Project pages of  Roger Kelly.

  3.  World Connect Project pages of  Roger Kelly.

  4.  World Connect Project pages of  Roger Kelly.