{"id":2483,"date":"2021-05-06T19:14:48","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T18:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningspaces.dundee.ac.uk\/dundeeuniculture\/?p=2483"},"modified":"2025-09-15T10:47:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T09:47:02","slug":"peter-carmichael-engineer-inventor-philanthropist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/peter-carmichael-engineer-inventor-philanthropist\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Carmichael: engineer, inventor & philanthropist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter Carmichael\u00a0<\/span>(1809-1891)\u00a0<\/span>is one of Dundee\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>quiet<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>heroe<\/span>s.\u00a0<\/span>L<\/span>argely unknown<\/span>\u00a0today<\/span>, his impact on the\u00a0<\/span>textile\u00a0<\/span>industry and\u00a0<\/span>local\u00a0<\/span>community\u00a0<\/span>was impressive<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Credited with several inventions which enhanced productivity<\/span>, Carmichael\u00a0<\/span>began his career\u00a0<\/span>as an engineering apprentice, rising<\/span>\u00a0to be<\/span> manager, then<\/span> senior partner, of Baxter Brothers<\/span>\u00a0by the 1870s.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Carmichael\u2019s success was\u00a0<\/span>marked by his<\/span>\u00a0purchase<\/span>\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>Arthurstone<\/span>\u00a0Estate in Perth<\/span>shire<\/span>\u00a0which he renovated<\/span>\u00a0and improved.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Peter Carmichael, 1870<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Plan to introduce gas to Arthurstone [1860s]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Carmichael\u2019s contribution to the\u00a0<\/span>textile\u00a0<\/span>industry a<\/span>nd consequent<\/span>\u00a0prosperity of Dundee<\/span>\u00a0is little known<\/span>, even though he<\/span>\u00a0was described as the ‘great motive power in the development of textile manufacturing in Dundee’<\/span>\u00a0Equally, hi<\/span>s philanthropic efforts\u00a0<\/span>are also\u00a0<\/span>often\u00a0<\/span>overlooked.\u00a0<\/span>Q<\/span>uietly generous<\/span>, Carmichael<\/span>\u00a0claimed\u00a0<\/span>no<\/span>\u00a0credit for his<\/span>\u00a0frequent and bountiful<\/span>\u00a0donations to various churches, Dundee Royal\u00a0<\/span>Infirmary<\/span>\u00a0and the Mars Training Ship<\/span>. He was\u00a0<\/span>actively<\/span>\u00a0involved in his local parish; building a church and manse in\u00a0<\/span>Ardler<\/span>\u00a0village<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0which bordered his estate<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>heavily<\/span>\u00a0involved in the local<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>school<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>board.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Carmichael<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>fr<\/span>e<\/span>quently<\/span>\u00a0emphasised the importance of education, crediting it for his success as an inventor and mill manager.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Carmichael\u2019s notes of his \u2018skutcher\u2019 machine, [1850s]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Carmichael\u2019s coal and steam experiments, 1853, 1870<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UoD<\/span>\u00a0Archive volunteers Kate and Sarah\u00a0<\/span>celebrate<\/span> this remarkable man at https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter Carmichael\u00a0(1809-1891)\u00a0is one of Dundee\u2019s\u00a0quiet\u00a0heroes.\u00a0Largely unknown\u00a0today, his impact on the\u00a0textile\u00a0industry and\u00a0local\u00a0community\u00a0was impressive.\u00a0 Credited with several inventions which enhanced productivity, Carmichael\u00a0began his career\u00a0as an engineering apprentice, rising\u00a0to be manager, then senior partner, of Baxter Brothers\u00a0by the 1870s.\u00a0Carmichael\u2019s success was\u00a0marked by his\u00a0purchase\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Arthurstone\u00a0Estate in Perthshire\u00a0which he renovated\u00a0and improved.\u00a0\u00a0 Carmichael\u2019s contribution to the\u00a0textile\u00a0industry and consequent\u00a0prosperity of Dundee\u00a0is little known, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":550,"featured_media":2487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-history"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/550"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2483"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6310,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2483\/revisions\/6310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}