Elder was a leader in marine architecture and steamship construction, and headed an engineering operation which employed several thousand skilled workmen. He was born in Glasgow on 8 March 1824, the son of a mechanical engineer who had built a succession of engines for ocean-going ships.
After serving his apprenticeship, Elder worked for a time as a draughtsman in England. On returning to Glasgow in 1848 he ran his father's drawing office before, in 1852, joining Randolph Elliott & Co as a partner. This firm of millwrights, later renamed John Elder & Co, moved into shipbuilding and 111 sets of steam engines were built at the Fairfield yard during Elder's time.
Elder was known for good worker relations, for providing education and an accident fund. He put money into the wider Govan community, and was working towards the provision of schools when he died on 17 September 1869, aged 45.
PERHAPS no greater loss ever befell the leading industry of the Clyde than the premature death of Mr. John Elder, in 1869. He was a foremost leader in the science of marine architecture and in the art of steamship construction. He was at the head of an enormous engineering establishment employing several thousand skilled workmen; and was, up to the close of his busy life, engaged in such extensions as would have made it unrivalled, for magnitude and completeness. The ships built by him were to be found in all harbours and upon every sea. They were famous everywhere for beauty of form, excellence of arrangements, and efficiency of performance.
No professional men are more likely to be soon forgotten, in ordinary circumstances, than our great engineers. Their works are not performed in full view of all men, and their daily doings seldom fill a large space in the public eye. Their labour is of an engrossing and exhausting kind; and extreme devotion to it characterizes them as a class. Men whose skill, energy, and enterprise attract power and wealth to the country, and provide means of subsistence for large sections of the community, frequently pass away all too soon from the memory of those who follow after them. That such is not the case with the subject of this memoir is probably due no less to his private worth than to the magnitude and success of his achievements.
John Elder was a worthy son of a distinguished father. Mr. James R. Napier said of the latter, in a paper read before the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, in 1866, "The history of so remarkable a man as David Elder must be interesting to many, on account of his connection with works which have made Glasgow and the Clyde notable, and given to his employer a fame which is known over the engineering world."
Mr. David Elder, the father of the subject of this memoir, was born at Little Seggie, near Kinross, in 1785. From his earliest years he evinced a genius for mathematical studies, and contrived to master, without assistance, Simson's Euclid and a work on Algebra, translated from the French, which he walked eighteen miles to procure. He studied the principles of mechanics and hydraulics by watching the working of old water-wheels in the mills that were to be found in the district where he lived. In 1817 he came to Glasgow to practice as a mechanical engineer and millwright. His energy and ingenuity speedily procured advancement for him, and in 1821 he became manager of Mr. Robert Napier's engineering works at Camlachie. About the year 1822, Mr. Napier contracted for his first marine engine, which was fitted in a steamer called the "Leven," to ply between Glasgow and Dumbarton. The work was entrusted to Mr. Elder; but the nature of the tools at his disposal for executing it would surprise many engineers of the present day. A few 10-inch to 14-inch turning lathes, with wooden sheers, and with narrow pulleys and belts that were constantly slipping; a rude horizontal boring mill; and a smaller vertical boring machine, constituted the greater part of the plant. With these, Mr. Elder succeeded in constructing an engine to which he often afterwards referred with pride. Many of the difficulties connected with the early manufacture of marine engines were surmounted by Mr. Elder's ability and resources.
The workmen of the period, who were old millwrights, possessed ideas of good, accurate workmanship which were so inferior to Mr. Elder's that he preferred to employ good cartwrights, or house joiners, upon the more important jobs; believing that this class of artificers would carry their ideas of close-fitting joints of wooden structures into practice when dealing with iron. Mr. Elder contrived many tools, including large milling machines, which would execute the work better, and raise it to his ideal standard of accuracy and quality. Many of the modern tools used in the manufacture of marine engines were devised by Mr. David Elder, as well as some of the most important details of the marine engine itself.
The first double engine, designed by Mr. David Elder, was for the "Eclipse," a vessel which traded between Glasgow and Belfast. When starting her, in July, 1826, he was nearly killed. The hot-well was open above, as was then usual. One engine had formed a vacuum, and the other had got hot, sending hot water and steam through the hot-well into the engine-room, and severely scalding Mr. Elder, who was the last to get out of it. This accident led him to raise and close the top of the hot-well, and to lead a waste-pipe to the outside of the ship, as is now universally done.
The principal characteristics of Mr. David Elder's work were the direct and simple adaptation of the various parts of an engine to the duties required of them; accuracy and high finish of workmanship; strength and rigidity of the whole fabric of the machine, and also of that portion of the hull of a vessel which contains it. He gave so much attention to the framing and fastening of the middle part of a ship, and to all points that affected the connection of the engines to the hull, that he would sometimes boast that, whatever else of a vessel might break up, if she happened to be wrecked, his part would hold together. Such caution was necessary at that time, both for the safety of ship and machinery. Competing vessels on the Atlantic sometimes had their engine frames broken because of the weakness and consequent bending and twisting of the hulls. The success of Messrs. Napier's steamships, in this and other respects, may largely be ascribed to Mr. David Elder's anxious care and forethought, which appeared to be thoroughly ingrained in his character. One of his greatest improvements was the introduction of wrought iron framing in place of the ponderous cast iron frames which preceded it.
To Mr. David Elder's work is largely due the successful establishment of a steam ferry across the Atlantic Ocean, which was celebrated for its regularity; and which is a tribute to the sagacity and enterprise of the late Sir Samuel Cunard, Mr. Robert Napier, and the few Glasgow merchants who co-operated with them. The machinery of these vessels, to which their speed and efficiency may be chiefly attributed, established that confidence which was so marked a feature in the progress of the line. The engines differed but little from others previously constructed by Mr. Elder, except in the additional care bestowed in simplifying them, and making everything as accessible as possible that was at all likely to go wrong, or to require attention, either at sea or in a foreign port.
The early celebrity of the Clyde district as the cradle of steam navigation is largely due to Mr. David Elder, who may be regarded as the father of marine engineering upon the Clyde. He knew his business thoroughly, both theoretically and practically; and, as we have already seen, Mr. James R. Napier has borne generous testimony to the value of his connection with their world-renowned firm. He despised everything superficial, and it was a cause of great pride and gratification to him that no engine ever put out of his hands had failed from insufficient strength or imperfect workmanship.
He had an excellent taste in architecture, and a great love of music. He constructed an organ for his own use, and afterwards erected one for Mr. Napier at Shandon. He was a man of great natural force of character, and maintained his opinions with considerable vigour; but he was animated by the utmost kindness of heart, and was always delighted to see his friends happy around him. His strong intellect, combined with the effects of early religious training, caused him to be a keen theologian. He was a member of the Church of England; and he possessed strong and broad religious feelings, a genuinely kind and sympathetic nature, and a liberal and cultured mind. Mr. David Elder died in January, 1866, in the eighty-second year of his age, highly respected and deeply regretted by all who knew him.
The late Mr. John Elder was born in Glasgow, on the 8th March, 1824. His elementary education was obtained in the High School. In mathematics he was a pupil of Dr. Connell, one of the most able and successful teachers of that day; and he gave early proofs of great talent and application by carrying off the principal prizes of the class. In every branch of drawing he was a most successful student. A constitution naturally delicate prevented him from deriving the full benefit of his attendance at the High School, and from pursuing his studies to any considerable extent at a university. A short attendance at the class of Civil Engineering in the Glasgow College was all the university education he received. But he was fortunate in being educated under the eye of his father, by whose judicious advice he prosecuted his private studies with that ardour which was so marked a characteristic of his later years. The training he thus received was of the most thorough and efficient kind. Professor Rankine says in his memoir:- "To those who knew him well and enjoyed the advantage of personal communication with him, it was manifest that his eminence was due not so much to teaching by others as to the fact that he was that rare character - a man of genius, and therefore in a great measure independent of that external control and guidance which was necessary for the training of ordinary students. In other words, his mind was gifted with the faculty of subjecting itself to the systematic labour and discipline which in ordinary cases have to be enforced by academic authority, and with that strong and clear vision which gives the learner the power of finding his way without a guide through all the mazes of science."
He served an apprenticeship of five years, under his father, in the works of Mr. Robert Napier, and was employed successively in the pattern shop, factory, and drawing office. He was then engaged for about a year in the pattern-making works of Messrs. Hick, at Bolton-le-Moors, and afterwards as a draughtsman at the Great Grimsby Docks. In 1848 he returned to the works of Mr. Napier to take charge of the drawing office. While there John Elder enjoyed the rare opportunity of assisting his father in the construction and equipment of some of the famous Cunard Liners, vessels in which the highest skill possible at that time, in design and execution, was displayed. Profiting by the experience thus gained, he was afterwards able to achieve still greater successes, on his own account, in naval architecture and marine engineering. In the summer of 1852, when only twenty-eight years of age, he joined the firm of Randolph Elliott & Co., of Glasgow, as a partner. This firm was famous, and had been successful, as millwrights, but had never had anything to do with marine engines. The possession of a partner like Mr. Elder, who had a thorough knowledge of the principles and practice of that department of engineering, enabled them to undertake this branch of business. About 1860 the firm extended its operations so as to include shipbuilding. After Mr. Elder joined, the name of the firm was altered to Randolph Elder & Co. Upon the retirement of his partners in 1868 it became simply John Elder; but after Mr. Elder's death it was changed to John Elder & Co.
John Elder's work was distinguished by great scientific knowledge, originality, skill, and thoroughness; and possessed characteristics similar to that of his father, in the shape of wise and simple adaptations of means to ends. He effected numerous improvements of a striking character in the marine engine, the prime objects of which were economy of fuel, and an increase in the power developed by machinery, with diminution of friction. John Elder resuscitated, improved, and brought into successful use James Watt's old idea of steam-jacketing. His greatest service to steam navigation - particularly to ocean steam navigation - was, however, his adoption and practical construction of the compound, or combined high and low pressure, engines. This last achievement has been productive of immense advantage in economy of fuel, and has had an effect upon trade which cannot be estimated. Trial trips of steamers fitted with Mr. Elder's compound engines were made with great success within about six months after the date of the first patent. The economy of fuel amounted to a saving of from 30 to 40 per cent. of the coal previously burned by steamers of the same class; and this constituted a saving which rendered it practicable to carry on steam navigation, with profit, from this country to the Pacific coast, and to equally distant shores. The average rates of consumption were subsequently brought down to 2½ lbs. and 2¼ lbs. per indicated horse-power per hour. Fourteen important patents were taken out by the firm between the years 1853 and 1867, chiefly for improvements in engines and boilers. Particulars of these are given in the memoir of John Elder by Professor Rankine, which was published in 1870.
The first vessel fitted with compound engines by Messrs. Randolph Elder & Co. was the screw steamer "Brandon." Her engines were vertical, direct-acting, and geared; the cranks being placed diametrically opposite to each other, with a view to the diminution of strain and friction. Her trial trip was made in July, 1854, when the rate of consumption was found to be 3¼ lbs. per indicated horse-power per hour. The lowest rate of consumption in steamers previous to that time was about 4 lbs. or 4½ lbs. of coal per indicated horse-power per hour. The next ships fitted with compound engines were the paddle-steamers "Inca" and "Valparaiso," built for the Pacific Steam Navigation Co. They have two diametrically opposite cranks and four cylinders; the high and low pressure cylinders of each engine lying side by side, in an inclined position, and their pistons moving in contrary directions. The whole arrangement is very simple and compact, and produces as near an approach to a balance of driving forces as is practicable. The cylinders were jacketed at top and bottom only, and not round the sides. The first ship in which engines of that kind had the cylinders completely jacketed, was the "Admiral," built by Mr. J. R. Napier, and engined by Messrs. Randolph Elder & Co., in 1858. She was followed by the "Callao," built by Messrs. John Reid & Co. of Port-Glasgow. The rate of consumption was found to be, - in the "Inca " 2½ lbs. per indicated horse-power per hour; in the "Valparaiso" and "Admiral," 3 lbs. per indicated horse-power per hour; and in the "Callao," 2.7 lbs. - a degree of economy never before realized in marine engines. This comparatively low rate of consumption was not merely recorded on the trial trips, but was maintained during many years' service at sea.
The success of the engines of these ships completely established the practical value of the principles on which they were designed, and was followed by the construction by Messrs. Randolph Elder & Co. of a long series of steamers in which the same principles, viz., higher initial pressures, greater rates of expansion, and larger proportions of super-heating surface, were more fully carried out. This enabled the engines to effect still greater economy - the regular rates of consumption coming down to 2½ lbs. and 2¼ lbs. per indicated horse-power per hour.
The Pacific Steam Navigation Company and other companies largely benefited by these improvements. The compound engine proved a powerful instrument in promoting their commercial success. Many of the vessels built by Mr. John Elder are still doing their work well. The last ship which the Pacific Steam Navigation Company contracted for with Mr. Elder was named the "John Elder," in compliment to his memory, and in acknowledgment of the value of his services and inventions to steam navigation. She is a remarkably handsome vessel, and is still actively employed by the Company. She is 406 feet in length, 41½ feet in breadth, and 35 feet in depth of hold. Her engines are of 550 indicated horse-power, but are capable of indicating 2,750 horse-power; and her gross tonnage 4,152 tons.
During the time that Mr. Elder was connected with the firm, no fewer than one hundred and eleven sets of steam engines were constructed. Most of the ships for which these engines were intended were also built by the firm, besides sailing vessels. In the year 1869, towards the close of which Mr. Elder died, fourteen steamers and three sailing ships, of a total tonnage amounting to 25,235, were constructed at the Fairfield Yard. This was nearly twice the tonnage produced at any other yard upon the Clyde during the same year, the next highest being 13,425 tons. At the same time a large quantity of gearing of every description, for cotton mills and factories, was made. The old-established business of the firm, that of millwrights, had now, however, been thrust into the background by the new and prosperous industries of marine engineering and shipbuilding. Three large iron floating docks were built, and sent to Java, Saigon, and Callao respectively. The Saigon and Callao docks are fitted with powerful pumping engines, capable of lifting the largest man-of-war in less than three hours; and they can take ships of twenty-seven feet draught of water. These docks are still in successful operation.
The reports of the British Association at Leeds in 1858, Aberdeen in 1859, and Oxford in 1860, contain papers by Mr. Elder upon some of his improvements in marine engineering. He did not, however, confine his attention to the exclusively engineering branch of his profession. In 1868 he read a paper before the United Service Institution in London, upon an improved form of ship for fighting purposes. This paper was entitled "Circular ships of war, with immersed motive power." Mr. Elder said he was aware that circular structures had already been proposed for floating buoys and beacons, any of which structures might be fitted with steam power. But it was self-evident that none of them were designed to be used as steam-propelled vessels of war; neither were they capable of being moved, except at very low speeds and with the expenditure of great power. Mr. Elder believed, as the result of experiments upon the resistance offered by various forms of vessels in passing through water, that there is no reason why a vessel of the same displacement as one of our best ironclads, but circular in form, may not be propelled at an equally high rate of speed. He found that the circular model was much drier, and behaved better in rough weather, than the ordinary model; while its superiority as regards stability was obvious.
The under-water form of such a vessel was of considerable importance; and Mr. Elder explained that it required to be shaped like a saucer or water-glass, or in the form of a segment of a sphere. The whole of the lower part of the ship would be inclined to the horizon at such an acute angle that it would be impossible to strike it injuriously except by a ricochet shot. The propulsion of the circular boat was one of its principal features, and Mr. Elder designed machinery for the purpose of keeping the propellers constantly immersed. He considered that the circular form offered peculiar advantages for adapting the turbine, or emissive-jet propeller; and he designed hydraulic machinery for the purpose. This arrangement of propelling apparatus enabled the contour of the vessel to be preserved unaltered, and thus left it free to travel in any direction, or to revolve quickly with the smallest expenditure of power - there being no projecting parts either of machinery, gearing, or casings to impede the vessel's movements.
It was pointed out that such a vessel might be made to manoeuvre with the utmost possible rapidity, and would possess a degree of stability and steadiness which no existing form of floating battery or other ship of war had. The details of construction and the method of building such ships, and their general arrangements, were described by Mr. Elder; and he intended to follow this up with another paper, giving complete and well-digested results of experiments, which might assist to clear up much of the misunderstanding that existed respecting the resistance of bodies moving through fluids. His death, in the following year, occurred before this intention could be carried out.
The Russian circular ironclads "Novgorod" and "Admiral Popoff," which were built about ten years ago for service in the Black Sea, appear to be an outcome of Mr. Elder's idea; but, if so, it must have been imperfectly understood; at any rate, it was radically altered, in the carrying out, with most unsatisfactory results. The Russian vessels were ill-designed, and were made of unsuitable forms for speed, besides being insufficient in strength. They were very different from what Mr. Elder intended, and would probably have constructed had his life been spared; for he was so confident of the merits of his plan that he proposed building a model vessel upon it at considerable cost.
Between 1861 and 1864 five paddle steamers were built and engined by Messrs. Randolph Elder & Co. which attained a speed of 16 to 17 knots at sea. In 1865 the Admiralty made a comparative trial of three kinds of marine engines, fitted in three ships of nearly similar models. These were the "Arethusa," engined by Messrs. John Penn & Son; the "Octavia," engined by Messrs. Maudsley; and the "Constance," fitted with compound engines by Messrs. Randolph Elder & Co. The "Constance" obtained far better results than the other two vessels, both in efficiency of engines and economy of consumption; but the novelty of the compound engine, as it was then considered by the Admiralty, prevented the adoption of the principle in the Navy, notwithstanding the great superiority these trials proved it to possess over engines of the ordinary type.
The relations that existed between Mr. Elder and the workmen were of an unusually cordial and friendly character, and he was full of ideas for promoting their moral, intellectual, and religious improvement. His patient and unassuming manner of dealing with them, and his obviously earnest desire to promote their interests and to elevate them in the social scale, won their respect and confidence. An accident fund was established to which he contributed a monthly sum, which was equal in amount to that raised by the workmen amongst themselves.
The income of this fund amounted to about £500 per annum from each source. It was managed by a committee, partly appointed by the firm from among the foremen, and partly elected by the men.
Mr. Elder also contemplated the formation of schools for educating the children of workmen. He often regretted to see no schools in Govan which he thought suitable for the real wants of the community. He considered the education then given to be very poor, and quite insufficient for the requirements of intelligent and superior workmen. The number of schools he had in view were five, and his contribution towards them was to be regulated by the number of workmen employed in the Fairfield Works at the time, as in the case of the accident fund. Mr. Elder had a strong desire to establish adequate means for cultivating literary and scientific tastes among the workmen, and for educating them in the various branches of mechanics, and in certain of the arts. He frequently deplored the ignorance and immorality prevalent among some sections of workmen, which deprived them of all real enjoyment, and disqualified them from becoming useful members of society. He had great faith in the possibility of reclaiming many, and of raising the majority to a higher position in the social scale. Mr. Elder's sympathies were especially excited in behalf of lads who were sent early to work, and surrounded by demoralizing influences during those tender years when they ought to have been at school acquiring the education he believed to be necessary for them. He gave them every encouragement to attend the existing evening schools, paying their expenses where necessary. Like most real philanthropists who understand the working classes, and have their interests at heart, he believed that the best way to begin the work of moral improvement was to provide comfortable homes for the men and their families.
Mr. Elder's death prevented his ideas in the matter of education from being carried out; and it also prevented the execution of a plan for helping workmen to acquire comfortable homes, which had been well-nigh matured. By a strange coincidence, a large portion of the land which Mr. Elder had in view with this object, will in future exist as a public park for the benefit of the inhabitants of Govan, having been recently acquired for that purpose by Mrs. John Elder.
Mr. Elder was of medium height and of slight build, compared with his tall and more stalwart father. He was handsome beyond the average of men, with fine features and dark clustering hair. Enterprise and enthusiasm were conspicuous in his manner and physique, and seemed to have no bounds. He was a man of indefatigable energy and of extraordinary activity and resource. His skill and quickness in overcoming difficulties of all kinds were marvellous. Few could move so fast as be. But the sword was too keen for its scabbard. For several months during the year 1869 he was ill, and visited Harrogate for the benefit of its waters. Finding no improvement, he proceeded to London in order to procure the best medical advice. Upon the 17th September, 1869, the sad intelligence was received in Glasgow that he had succumbed to an attack of disease of the liver, under which he had been labouring. He was only forty-five years of age, and was thus cut off in the prime of manhood, and in the midst of a daily expanding career of usefulness and honour such as it has been the lot of few to tread. All Glasgow felt the blow. The Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod says, in describing the last sad ceremony, "The funeral was one of the most impressive sights I ever witnessed. The busy works south of the Clyde were shut, forge and hammer at rest, and silent as the grave. The forest of masts along the river were draped in flags, lowered half-mast, in sign of mourning. A very army of workmen, dressed like gentlemen, followed his body column after column. Respectful crowds lined the streets as if gazing on the burial of a prince, and every one of us, as we took the last look of his coffin and left his grave, felt that we had left a friend behind us."
We cannot pretend to do justice in this brief memoir to the ability and achievements of Mr. John Elder, still less is it possible to pay a fitting tribute to his private worth. Few men, in any position of life, have left behind them so many cherished memories, or such a large number of devoted friends. Struck down while yet in his prime, when the battle of life had been successfully fought and its highest prizes were within his grasp, and with a great and abiding reputation already made, it was certain that he would be respected and admired by many. The estimable qualities of the man, however, secure for John Elder's memory a place in the hearts of all who knew him, which could not have been won even by exalted genius or extraordinary success. With great strength of character he combined irresistible courtesy, and a gentle and amiable nature which endeared him to all with whom he came in contact. It was one of his chief characteristics that no rough or unkind words would pass his lips whatever trial or provocation he might have to endure.
In 1857, Mr. Elder married Isabella, daughter of the late Mr. Alexander Ure, Writer, Glasgow, and sister of the late Mr. John F. Ure, C.E. His widow survives to perpetuate by her munificence the name he did so much to make renowned and beloved. She has faithfully carried out the intention her husband had formed of benefiting the profession of which he was a distinguished ornament, by adding largely to the endowment of the Chair of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics in the University of Glasgow. She has recently done still more, by providing an endowment for the new Chair of Naval Architecture.
We have detailed the claims of Mr. John Elder to a prominent place in this volume. What greater things he might have done had length of years been vouchsafed to him can only be imagined. As it is, the development of his ideas has revolutionized marine engineering. He will always be remembered for having led the way in bringing the present compound expansive marine engine into successful practical use. The well-deserved reputation which was rapidly acquired by his firm attracted steamship owners towards it: and many of the finest ocean fleets then in existence were built entirely by Messrs. Randolph Elder & Co. Notably among them may be named the fleets of the Pacific Steam Navigation Co., the African Royal Mail Steamship Co., the British and African Steamship Co., and others.
In April, 1869, Mr. Elder was unanimously elected President of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, and its members looked forward with much interest to an opening address from him at the commencement of the following session. But their hopes were never to be fulfilled. His death left a painful void in the social and scientific world which he adorned: though his striking personality and admirable and attractive qualities give him an enduring place in the remembrance of a host of friends. John Elder earned for himself, during the too short space of time in which he was permitted to live and work, the love and esteem of the great community in which his lot was cast, and a high, honourable, and lasting place in the scientific and industrial annals of his country.
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