He was born in Craigie, South Ayrshire in 1776 and educated at Ayr Academy achieving high honours in mathematics.
Around 1799 he was appointed Manager of a mill belonging to Messrs Dale & Mackintosh at Dornoch and introduced the same steam-heating system.
[7] In 1835 he went to the United States as part of a project to introduce piston rings to the numerous steamships on the Hudson River.
During this visit he encountered the American Steam Raft, a strange steam-powered vessel sitting on multiple pontoons.
Inspired by this, on his return to Scotland in 1836, he created a twin-hulled design, surrounding a central paddle wheel, holding multiple upper decks which he called the "Cigar", patenting the idea on 15 March 1837.
[9] The design was not wholly successful due to the under-sizing of the floating cylinders in relation to the weight of the superstructure and she sat very low in the water.
[10] As the "Cigar" also handled poorly she was taken out of use in 1840 and then moored at Glasgow Green for use as a floating cafe and platform for bathers near the Humane Society Building.