Collection OM/17 - James Blyth collection

James Blyth was born in 1838 in the hamlet of Marykirk, Kincardineshire, where he attended the parish school and later Montrose Academy. He graduated BA from Edinburgh University in 1861 and MA in 1871. After a period as a private tutor, Blyth obtained teaching posts at the newly established Morrison's Academy in Crieff and at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, where he established the technical and scientific curriculum. In 1880, Blyth was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at Anderson's College, later the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, a post which he held until his death in 1906. He was widely respected as a teacher, and his research concentrated on electrical problems, the telephone and microphone, and the application of wind power. He was granted several patents to protect his inventions. He began his windmill experiments around 1885, building a windmill in the garden of his house at Marykirk, and built another to supply electric power to the asylum at Montrose. He was awarded the Brisbane Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1892 for his work on the application of wind power to the production of electric currents.