The great-great-grandson of a famous Dundee engineer has visited the city to see the statue that pays tribute to the achievements of his illustrious predecessor.
Hamish Carmichael (75), a retired computer consultant from Surrey, made the journey with his 96-year-old mother Blanche to the statue of James Carmichael to mark the 200th anniversary of his founding the family business J & C Carmichael.
James and his brother Charles set up business together in the Ward Foundry and ever since generations of the Carmichael family have been involved in engineering.
Among their achievements was the reversing gear fitted to the engines of a ferry, which at the time was so unusual the Admiralty sent a Royal Navy captain to inspect it.
They introduced a planing, boring and shaping machine and in 1833 produced the Earl of Airlie and Lord Wharncliffe locomotives for the Dundee and Newtyle Railway.
Hamish said, “We’ve always been proud of the tradition he founded. We’ve carried on being engineers in the family.
“If I was able to write his biography it would say he was lucky in being at the crucial stage when engineering changes from being crude to really sophisticated.
“He died in 1853 but when he started out as an apprentice under his uncle the millwright he was dealing in quarters of an inch.
“By the time he died he was dealing in hundredths and thinking in thousandths of an inch, which just shows you the progress made.”
The brothers introduced the fan-blowing machine, which revolutionised the iron-working business by dramatically speeding up the melting of iron in foundry furnaces.
In recognition of the impact the fan-blowing machine made James and Charles were honoured at a dinner in Glasgow in April 1841 when they were each presented with a silver service.
The silver salver of his great-great-grandfather’s set still sits on Hamish’s dining room table to this day.
Hamish and his mother also visited James’ grave in the Howff cemetery ahead of the Carmichael biennial gathering in Carmichael, Lanarkshire, on Tuesday.
Head of the family Richard will take visitors from all over the country through a range of activities and excursions charting the family history.