Fairbairn
SIR WILLIAM, a Scotch civil engineer; born in Kelso, Ke Scotland, Feb. 19, 1789; entered business in Manchester, England, in 1817. He constructed the first iron ship in England and afterward his firm built over 100 iron vessels. He was associated with Robert Stephenson in designing and building the great tubular bridge over Menai Strait. He was the author of "Iron, Its History and Manufacture"; "Iron Shipbuilding"; "Useful Information for Engineers"; "An Experimental Inquiry Into the Strength, Elasticity, Ductility, and Other Properties of Steel" (1869); etc. He died Aug. 18, 1874.