Tour Scotland 4K early Autumn travel video, with Scottish music, of Torphichen Kirk and Kirkyard on ancestry, genealogy, family history visit to West Lothian, Britain, United Kingdom. Torphichen Kirk has a history which goes back to the time of Saint Ninian, in the early 5th century. The first church building which was of timber construction, was located at the east end of the present Kirkyard. This Scottish church building is an excellent example of 18th century architecture. Torphichen is a historic small village located north of Bathgate in West Lothian, Scotland. The village is approximately 18 miles West of Edinburgh, 7 miles South East of Falkirk and 4 miles South West of Linlithgow. Henry Bell was born on 7 April 1767 at Torphichen. He was the fifth son of Patrick Bell and Margaret Easton, themselves members of a family well known at the time as millwrights, builders and engineers. He grew up at the local mill in Torphichen, where developed a working knowledge of water power. Work carried out by members of the Bell family included the design and construction of harbours, bridges, etc., in Scotland and throughout the United Kingdom. Henry Bell was educated at the local parish school and was apprenticed to a stonemason between 1780 and 1783. Three years later, he was briefly apprenticed to his uncle, a millwright. In 1786, he went to work in Borrowstounness and learned ship modelling. In 1787, he pursued his interest in ship mechanics in Bellshill with the engineer Mr James Inglis, which was then followed by several years working in London, England, under the engineer John Rennie the Elder. He returned to Scotland around 1790, and moved to Glasgow, where he worked as a house-carpenter. His ambition was to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and become a civil engineer, and to this end, he joined the Glasgow corporation of wrights on 20 October 1797. He was unsuccessful, apparently due to either lack of money, or lack of application or skill on his part. In 1808, Bell moved to the modern town of Helensburgh, on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde, where his wife undertook the superintendence of the public baths, and at the same time kept the principal inn, whilst he continued to prosecute his favourite scheme, without much regard to the ordinary affairs of the world. In 1809 Henry Bell was elected as the first Provost of Helensburgh. In 1812, he and John Robertson built the steam-boat the PS Comet, of 30 tons burthen, with an engine of three horsepower. The Comet, named after a great comet which had been visible for several months in 1811 and 1812, was built by Messrs John Wood and Co., at Port Glasgow which lies 3 miles to the east of Greenock, as adjacent towns on the south bank of the River Clyde as it widens into the Firth of Clyde. Bell briefly tried a service on the Firth of Forth. Then he had the Comet lengthened and re-engined and from September 1819 ran a service to Oban and Fort William, via the Crinan Canal, a trip which took four days, but on 13 December 1820 the Comet was shipwrecked in strong currents at Craignish Point, near Oban. Bell built another vessel, Comet II, but, on 21 October 1825, she collided with the steamer Ayr off Kempock Point, Gourock. Comet II sank very quickly, killing 62 of the 80 passengers on board. After the loss of his second ship, Bell abandoned his work on steam navigation. Bell lived to see his invention universally adopted. The Clyde, which first enjoyed the advantages of steam navigation, became the principal seat of this description of shipbuilding. Bell reaped no personal advantage from the widespread adoption of steam-powered ships and spent many of his later years in abject poverty. Touched by his condition, the late Dr Cleland, and a number of other benevolent individuals, commenced a subscription on his behalf, by which a considerable sum was raised. The trustees on the river Clyde granted him an annuity of £100, which was continued to his widow. This was but a becoming acknowledgement of the value of his great invention on the part of the trustees of a river whose annual revenue was greatly increased by it. Bell died at Helensburgh in 1830, aged 62. He was interred in the Rhu churchyard. An obelisk to his memory was erected on the rock of Dunglass, a promontory on the Clyde, about 2½ miles above Dumbarton.[6][7] There is a memorial stone and obelisk on the seafront at Helensburgh. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day. Find things to see and do in Scotland where you are always welcome. When driving on Scottish roads in Scotland slow down and enjoy
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