Annual Report of the Council. 183 



with the Manchester Jubilee Exhibition of 1887. The 

 honour of knighthood was conferred on him by Her 

 Majesty on January 1, 1890. He was a Justice of the 

 Peace for Manchester, and in 1866 married a daughter of 

 the late Mr. James Yates. The Sovvler family originally 

 came from Durham, where they carried on the business of 

 printers in the early part of last century, the old anthem 

 books in use at Durham Cathedral up to 1845 having been 

 printed by the great-grandfather of Sir Thomas. 



James Nasmyth, a notice of whose death was omitted 

 from the report for 1890-1, was born on August 19th, 1808. 

 He was the son of Alexander Nasmyth, the celebrated 

 Scottish painter. In his youth he knew many of the 

 literary men of Edinburgh, Sir Walter Scott among others. 

 At the age of 13, he attended scientific lectures at the 

 Edinburgh School of Arts, at the same time making model 

 steam engines for sale. In 1827, he made for the Scottish 

 Society of Arts a road steam carriage. At the age of 2 1 

 he went to London, and was engaged by Henry Maudsley, 

 the engineer, as his private assistant. He received as 

 wages, 10s. per week. He made the acquaintanceship of 

 Henry Brougham, a friend of his father's, who offered to 

 introduce him to men of science in London. Nasmyth 

 replied that the man he most wished to know was Michael 

 Faraday. Brougham accordingly gave him a letter of intro- 

 duction. Nasmyth says in his "Autobiography," " Not long 

 after Faraday called and found me working beside Maudsley. 

 He expressed himself delighted to find me in so enviable posi- 

 tion. This most pleasant and memorable meeting with the 

 great philosopher initiated a friendship which I had the good 

 fortune to continue to the close of his life." Nasmyth left 

 Maudsley 's in 1831, and returned to Edinburgh, where he 

 spent three years in making the engineer's tools for his future 

 foundry. At the age of 26 he began business for himself 



