BIOGRAPHY
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William Symington, the real inventor of EfficientSteam Navigation, was a native of Leadhills, Lanark-shire, Scotland . Intended for the Church, he receivedan excellent education, but his predilection for me-chanics defeated that intention.
Before completing his twentieth year he conceivedthe idea that the steam engine could be renderedavailable for the propulsion of land carriages, an idea| he afterwards embodied in a working model, which—■by the advice of Mr Meason, manager and part pro-prietor of the Wanlockhead Lead Mines—he exhibitedto the Professors of the University of Edinburgh andother scientific gentlemen in that metropolis, whowere so much pleased, both with Symington and hisinvention, that they strongly recommended Mr Mea-son not to lose sight of so promising a genius—a re-commendation so much in accordance with that gen-tleman’s own inclination, that he sent Symington tothe .University of Edinburgh the succeeding winter,where, it appears by certificates Nos. 15 and 10, hewas matriculated as a student.