Robert Thom

1774 - 1847

Engineer. Born in Tarbolton (South Ayrshire) and educated at the Andersonian Institute, Glasgow, Thom worked on maximising the water power to drive cotton mills in West Lothian and Rothesay and gained a reputation as an excellent hydraulic engineer. He was commissioned to design the domestic and industrial water supply to Greenock, and much of his system remains in use today. His name is remembered in the principal reservoir on the scheme, Loch Thom.

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