Note 108 — Chapter II

William Denny, the builder of the Rob Roy, as also of the Marjory (noticed p. 75), was born in Dumbarton in 1789, where his forefathers for some generations had been “wee lairds” (yeomen) farming their own land. After serving his apprenticeship as a joiner and ship-carpenter, and acting as manager of a small ship-building yard on the River Leven, Dumbarton, he commenced business on his own account at that place, and was the first to lay down in his yard Morton’s patent slips, where he built various sailing-ships for the East and West India trades. He died in December 1833. Three of his sons, also, William, Alexander, and Peter, commenced business at that place as iron ship builders in 1844, on a small piece of ground, removing in 1847 to a larger yard, where they continued the business of iron ship builders under the firm of William Denny and Brothers, by which it is still known. In 1851, two other brothers, James and Archibald, having then joined them, they (there were seven brothers, all shipbuilders) commenced the business of engine builders, subsequently adding to this that of founding and forging, so that all the branches of work connected with steam shipbuilding might be done on the spot. William was a man of remarkable genius and talent, and attained so high a reputation as a marine architect that he and his brother Alexander planned most of the steamers built on the Clyde from 1839 to 1844. He died in 1854, and the only brother now left is the youngest, Mr. Peter Denny, who, with his son and Mr. Walter Brock, carries on this well-known and extensive business, which, in the years 1873 and 1874, built and fitted with engines 37,000 tons of iron screw-ships. Since 1844 the town of Dumbarton has risen, almost entirely through their exertions, from a population of 4000 to 12,000 inhabitants. But, beyond his fame as an iron ship builder, Mr. Peter Denny is known in public life, having been appointed a member of the Royal Commission in 1872 of which the Duke of Somerset was Chairman, to inquire into the cause of the loss of life and property at sea.