GEORGE DUNLOP Jnr (b. 18 May 1848) (Position 24 on the Genealogy Report) Not very much is known of George's childhood either.  It is not known, for example, where he spent his early school years.  But it is known that he studied at Glasgow University (or Glasgow College as it was then known), and it would appear that he was a pupil at Greenock Academy immediately prior to that.  At any rate, on Saturday 19 August 1865, the Greenock Advertiser published a list of those candidtes who had succeeded in passing exams set in June by the Department of Science and Art, under the Committee fo the Privy Council for Education, and George Dunlop, a student of Greenock Academy, passed 'Excellent'.  If that were George Dunlop Jnr, then he would have been seventeen when he sat the exams. George went on to study engineering at Glasgow College from 1866 to 1868.  Glasgow University did not, at that time, grant degrees in engineering, and George was awarded a Certificate of Proficiency in Engineering Science when he completed his studies. It can be seen from university calendars that that entitled George to put the letters C.E. after his name, though, as far as this writer is aware, he never did.  Subjects included in the course were, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Civil Engineering and Mechanics.  Somewhere within that grouping were electrical studies, for George won a prize in Electrical Experiments. One cannot pass over George's time at Glagow College without making some note of the fact that many men of great distinction had studied or taught at Glasgow College, and, indeed, there were some very distinguished men teaching there when George was a student.  Names of some of those who had passed through its ranks prior to George's arrival are: William Hunter (1718-1783), the anatomist; Adam Smith (1723-179), the economist; and although neither a student nor a lecturer, James Watt (1736-1819), the engineer.   Three of the giants who were teaching at Glasgow College when George was a student were: Joseph Lister (1827-1912), the pioneer of antiseptics, who held the Chair of Surgery at the College from 1860 to 1869; William Thomson (1824-1907), who was to become Baron Kelvin, and who was probably one of the greatest inventors of all time, was made Professor of Natural Pholosophy in 1846 and remained professor for over 50 years; William MacQuorn Rankine, the civil engineer involved in the Loch Katrine waterworks scheme, whose theories on thermodynamics made a significant contribution to marine engineering, was Professor of Civil Engineering from 1855 to 1873. It is reasonable to suppose that George studied under Professors Rankine and Thomson.

Back

Next