James Kennedy (13 January 1797 – 25 September 1886) was a Scottish locomotive and marine engineer. He was born in the village of

Gilmerton Gilmerton is a suburb of Edinburgh, about southeast of the city centre. The toponym "Gilmerton" is derived from a combination of – a personal name and later surname meaning "Servant of he VirginMary", from which comes the first element, ...

near

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Career

Early years

He was apprenticed at the age of 13 to a

millwright A millwright is a craftsman or skilled tradesman who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mechanic'') ...

near

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; , ) is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1541. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Pala ...

, where he remained for five years. He spent some years working as a millwright, working with

winding An electromagnetic coil is an electrical conductor such as a wire in the shape of a coil ( spiral or helix). Electromagnetic coils are used in electrical engineering, in applications where electric currents interact with magnetic fields, in ...

and pumping engines at several places before moving to Laverock Hall (now

Larkhall Larkhall (, ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, around southeast of Glasgow. It is twinned with Seclin in northern France. Larkhall sits on high ground between the River Clyde to the East and the Avon Water to the West. Larkhall ...

) near

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, where he was employed to erect pumping and winding engines of his own design.

Robert Stephenson and Company

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

to supervise the installation of a marine engine, he met

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victoria ...

, who was then establishing his locomotive works,

Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build Steam locomotive, railway engines. Famou ...

, at

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. Stephenson appointed Kennedy manager in 1824. While in this post, Kennedy constructed two pairs of stationary winding engines and planned the first three

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s for the opening of the

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near with ...

in 1825.

Bury, Curtis and Kennedy

In 1825 he left Stephenson to return to Liverpool as manager of Mather, Dixon and Company but very soon joined locomotive builder

Edward Bury and Company Bury, Curtis and Kennedy was a steam locomotive manufacturer in Liverpool, England. Edward Bury established the works in 1826, under the name Edward Bury and Company. He employed James Kennedy (engineer), James Kennedy as foreman; Kennedy later ...

as foreman of the Clarence Foundry. In 1842 he became a partner in the firm, now renamed Bury, Curtis and Kennedy.

Thomas Vernon and Son

From 1844 he also acted as manager of the Liverpool

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

Thomas Vernon and Son where he introduced iron deck

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

Professional appointments

He was a founder member of the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 110,000 member ...

in 1847, becoming its President in 1860.

Death

He died in 1886 at his home, Cressington Park, Garston, near Liverpool. He was survived by his wife, Adelaide.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, James 1797 births 1886 deaths 19th-century Scottish people People of the Industrial Revolution 19th-century Scottish inventors British steam engine engineers Scottish railway mechanical engineers British railway pioneers Locomotive builders and designers People from Garston Engineers from Liverpool