Fairbairn, Sir William

1789-1874

William Fairbairn was born in Kelso in the Borders. He was apprenticed to a millwright in the north east of England and then set up a factory in Manchester that produced mill machinery. He moved to London 1830, where his shipyard at Millwall produced some of the first iron ships. When working with Robert Stevenson on the bridge over the Menai Strait in Wales he came up with the idea of using tubular steel construction. He was knighted in 1869.

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