The Scottish gas industry up to 1914

The gas industry which supplied illumination to commercial and domestic premises, played a significant but hitherto largely unstudied role in the economic development of Scotland. A wealth of detail is available on this multi-faceted industry, from gas company minute books to the voluminous Journal of Gas Lighting. Close connections existed with the engineering and coal mining industries, which provided exuipment and raw materials, and also with cotton and textile mills which consumed gas and frequently operated early private gasworks. Gas consumption reflected general economic prosperity or depression. -- From alchemical origins, Lord Dundonald's tar process, and the private gasworks advocated by Boulton and Watt, and by Maiben of Perth, a detailed examination is made of the commercial development of the industry through its impact on tallow and whale oil producers, to collaboration with shale-oil manufacturers, competition with electricity, and the use of gas as fuel. Joint stock gas companies, operating mostly without Parliamentary sanction, obtained the financial benefits of large scale production and provided one of the earliest opportunities for Scottish entrepreneurs and small investors to co-operate in companies with a large membership. Before and during the age of railways, information from contracts of co-partnery, municipal-records, and newspapers show the dates, locations, and mechanisms of company formation and regulation in this microcosm of entrepreneurship, as well as the occupations of partners. The exceptionally detailed financial statistics available in 1853, have been used in conjunction with minute books to analyse gross capital formation, the importance of loan capital and reinvestment of profits. -- Technological change is examined chronologically with some recent illustrations of long established practices, but a comparable review of English technology is not available for detailed comparisons. Three concomitant factors were the development of special gases to enrich, or to compete with, coal gas; by-products and coal, the major price variables which imposed their own technological problems; and the skills of management and labour. The sources of management skills, the possibility of connections with other industries, innovation and technological expertise were reviewed, in addition to labourers' conditions, wages, and their effect upon mechanization policies. Problems of marketing gas, factors affecting its sale price, and the development of gas cooking, are examined from the viewpoints of both manufacturers and consumers. The hazards of competition between high capital companies in a fixed market, and difficulties which beset the Consumers' Movement are detailed, and an analysis made of the extent, regulation and success of Municipal "gas and water socialism".The gas industry which supplied illumination to commercial and domestic premises, played a significant but hitherto largely unstudied role in the economic development of Scotland. A wealth of detail is available on this multi-faceted industry, from gas company minute books to the voluminous Journal of Gas Lighting. Close connections existed with the engineering and coal mining industries, which provided exuipment and raw materials, and also with cotton and textile mills which consumed gas and frequently operated early private gasworks. Gas consumption reflected general economic prosperity or depression. -- From alchemical origins, Lord Dundonald's tar process, and the private gasworks advocated by Boulton and Watt, and by Maiben of Perth, a detailed examination is made of the commercial development of the industry through its impact on tallow and whale oil producers, to collaboration with shale-oil manufacturers, competition with electricity, and the use of gas as fuel. Joint stock gas companies, operating mostly without Parliamentary sanction, obtained the financial benefits of large scale production and provided one of the earliest opportunities for Scottish entrepreneurs and small investors to co-operate in companies with a large membership. Before and during the age of railways, information from contracts of co-partnery, municipal-records, and newspapers show the dates, locations, and mechanisms of company formation and regulation in this microcosm of entrepreneurship, as well as the occupations of partners. The exceptionally detailed financial statistics available in 1853, have been used in conjunction with minute books to analyse gross capital formation, the importance of loan capital and reinvestment of profits. -- Technological change is examined chronologically with some recent illustrations of long established practices, but a comparable review of English technology is not available for detailed comparisons. Three concomitant factors were the development of special gases to enrich, or to compete with, coal gas; by-products and coal, the major price variables which imposed their own technological problems; and the skills of management and labour. The sources of management skills, the possibility of connections with other industries, innovation and technological expertise were reviewed, in addition to labourers' conditions, wages, and their effect upon mechanization policies. Problems of marketing gas, factors affecting its sale price, and the development of gas cooking, are examined from the viewpoints of both manufacturers and consumers. The hazards of competition between high capital companies in a fixed market, and difficulties which beset the Consumers' Movement are detailed, and an analysis made of the extent, regulation and success of Municipal "gas and water socialism"