James Watt (1736-1819)

                               AN ORATION.
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James, was the James Watt; and was twenty-four years
old, occupied in his workshop in the University of Glasgow,
when he assisted his father and brother and uncle in the
production of the now celebrated chart.

James Watt’s father was an energetic, practical man.
After serving an apprenticeship to a shipbuilder in Carse-
dyke, he settled at Greenock at the age of thirty, and lived a
busy life of work as a shipwright; a ship-chandler supply-
ing vessels with nautical apparatus, stores, and instruments;
a builder; and a merchant. For upwards of twenty years
he was a member of the Town Council of Greenock, and,
during great part of that time, its Treasurer; a magistrate;
and always a zealous and enlightened promoter of the
improvements of the town of which he was an inhabitant.
Above all, it is recorded by one who knew him well, that “ he
“was an intelligent, upright, and benevolent man.”

About 1729 he married Agnes Muirhead, “a fine-looking
“ woman, with pleasing, graceful manners, a cultivated mind,
“ an excellent understanding, and an equal cheerful temper
“... descended from an old Scottish family of Muirheads
“ settled in the shire of Clydesdale time immemorial, and
“ certainly before the reign of David the First of Scotland,
“ anno 1120.” Six children were born, of whom the three
eldest died in early childhood. The fourth was the great
James Watt, and the fifth was his brother John, who died in
1762.

James Watt was very delicate as a child and unable to
take much part in the healthy sports and school work of
other boys of his age, and early, like many other men of
genius, manifested a very contemplative disposition. “ His
“ parents were indulgent, yet judicious in their kindness; and
“ their child was docile, grateful, and affectionate. From an
“ early age he was remarkable for manly spirit, a retentive
“ memory, and strict adherence to truth; he might be wilful
“ or wayward, but never was insincere. He received from his
“ mother his first lessons in reading, his father taught him
“ writing and arithmetic. Owing to variable health, his
“ attendance on public classes at Greenock was irregular; his

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