‘Harnessing the winds’: Professor James Blyth, pioneer of renewable energy
James Blyth (1839-1906) was born in the hamlet of Marykirk, near Montrose, Kincardineshire. From relatively humble beginnings, he rose to become Professor of Natural Philosophy at Strathclyde’s antecedent institution, Anderson’s College (known from 1887 as the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College).
Blyth taught at the College from 1880 until his death in 1906, inspiring thousands of students with his clear, spontaneous lecturing style and seemingly boundless knowledge. However, he is best known today for his ground-breaking experiments in the generation and storage of electricity from wind power, carried out in the garden of his holiday cottage at Marykirk. This post showcases a small selection of items relating to James Blyth’s life and career, many of which were kindly donated to the University by his descendants.
Studio photograph of James Blyth, c.1900 (Accession 1299)
This portrait by John Fergus, taken towards the end of Blyth’s life, captures the hint of a smile around his eyes and brings out the Professor’s reputedly kindly nature. Blyth’s obituary, written by his friend Dr James Colville, describes him as ‘an altogether loveable man’, whose former students would ‘cherish through life, with reverence and affection, the memory of their teacher and friend’.
Two windmills erected in the garden of James Blyth’s cottage at Marykirk, c.1892 (OP/3/62/2)
James Blyth’s son, Vincent, recalled that his father first began experimenting with windmill construction in the garden of the family’s holiday cottage at Marykirk in 1885 or 1886. In July 1887, the Professor succeeded in building a small windmill that supplied electric light by means of storage cells. This was ‘of a tripod design, with a 33 foot windshaft, four arms of 13 feet with canvas sails, and a Burgin dynamo driven from the flywheel using a rope’, and was the world's first-known structure by which electricity was generated from wind power.
Blyth’s garden experiments at Marykirk continued: as Vincent later explained, ‘He erected mills, and often rooted them out and re-constructed them, always finding scope for further changes and trials.’ This photograph shows two of Blyth’s subsequent constructions. He went on to secure a patent for his ‘wind engine’ in 1891.
The Royal Scottish Society of Arts Makdougall Brisbane prize medal, with a copy of Blyth’s prizewinning paper, reprinted from the Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, 1892 (Accession 1634 and OM/17/11)
The Royal Scottish Society of Arts was established in 1821 for the encouragement of improvements in the ‘useful arts’ of science, technology, engineering and manufacture. This beautifully crafted medallion was awarded to Blyth for his paper ‘On the Application of Wind Power to the Generating of Current Electricity’, which Blyth read before the Society on 25 January 1892.
Drawing by Mavor & Coulson of proposed alterations to James Blyth’s patent windmill at the Montrose Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary and Dispensary, Sunnyside, 1895 (OM/17/13)
In May 1895, four years after patenting his design, Blyth licensed the Glasgow firm of Mavor & Coulson to build an improved version of his wind turbine. This was erected in the grounds of the Montrose Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary and Dispensary, and marked the first instance of wind being harnessed for the commercial generation of electricity. The windmill continued to supply emergency power to the Asylum for the next 27 years. Unfortunately, most people did not view Blyth’s methods as economically viable, and it was not until 1951 that the first public utility wind turbine was built at Costa Head, Orkney.
Today, staff and students at the University of Strathclyde continue to research technological advances in the field of renewable energy. The University also celebrates Professor James Blyth as one of the most significant figures in its history. A student residence on campus, James Blyth Court, has been named after him; the University hosts an annual James Blyth Lecture, and Blyth’s likeness appears on the colourful ‘Strathclyde Wonderwall’ adorning the Graham Hills Building (pictured below).
