{"id":265,"date":"2026-03-16T15:50:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/?page_id=265"},"modified":"2026-03-16T16:08:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:08:50","slug":"peter-carmichael-engineer-inventor-and-philanthropist","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Carmichael: engineer, inventor and philanthropist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Peter Carmichael was born on the 2nd March 1809, in Fife. After training under the respected engineer Peter Fairburn, Carmichael became a prominent figure in the Dundee flax industry. His long-standing association and partnership in the Baxter Brothers company was the basis for a long and distinguished career. Carmichael has been credited for the invention of several machines which helped to further the productivity and capacity of the company. In his later years, Carmichael purchased the Arthurstone estate, symbolising the opportunity for prosperity in 19th century manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his death in 1891, Carmichael was recognised as a an important figure in the industrialisation of the textile industry in Dundee. His philanthropic efforts in later life have also been memorialised by the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Document
Carmichael’s flax scutching machine details, nd <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Page
Thoughts on machine wrecking, extract from ‘Reminiscences of Peter Carmichael’ p253<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Page
Dundee’s Chartists extract from ‘Reminiscences of Peter Carmichael’ <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Document
Carmichael’s notes re flax scutching processes in Picardy, 1850s <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Page
Coal and Steam experiments, 1853 and 1870<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Document
Contract between William Baxter, David Baxter and Peter Carmichael, Dundee, 28 May 1853<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Notebook
Carmichael’s notes of visit to an English factory, c1863<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Notebook
Carmichael’s notes of visit to an English factory, c1863<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Pages
Letter to Carmichael re boiler and engine experiments, pp1-2, 1860<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pages
Letter to and reply by Carmichael re boiler and engine experiments, pp3-4, 1860<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Illustration
Baxter Bros Lower Dens Mills, 1866 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Plan
Baxter Bros Dens Works Calender, 1868<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Black
Peter Carmichael c1870 Ref: MS 11\/7\/4\/2\/5 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Plan
Arthurstone gas works plan, 1869<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Page
Carmichael’s visits to Baxter’s half-time school, nd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Black
Peter Carmichael by Robert Herdman, 1885
Dundee Central Library Local Studies Department<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Cover
Growth and Preparation of Flax, 1886<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Printed
Invitation to Peter Carmichael’s funeral, 1891<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Image
Women weaving, 1908<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Card
Ardler bell inscription, 1921<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter Carmichael was born on the 2nd March 1809, in Fife. After training under the respected engineer Peter Fairburn, Carmichael became a prominent figure in the Dundee flax industry. His long-standing association and partnership in the Baxter Brothers company was the basis for a long and distinguished career. Carmichael has been credited for the invention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":291,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-265","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/265\/revisions\/301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/dundees-inventor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}