Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald
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Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
nobleman and inventor. The son of Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald
Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald
Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald was a nobleman, army officer and politician.Thomas was born in 1691, the seventh son of William Cochrane of Ochiltree, and his wife Lady Mary Bruce, eldest daughter of Alexander Bruce, 2nd Earl of Kincardine...
, he joined the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
as a youth and also served time in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
before returning to Culross
Culross
The town of Culross, pronounced "Coo-ros", is a former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland.According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 395...
in 1778 after inheriting the Earldom of Dundonald from his father.
He inherited a title and family lands but little money. Left with no other means of support, Archibald turned to invention. His most noted invention was a method for making coal tar
Coal tar
Coal tar is a brown or black liquid of extremely high viscosity, which smells of naphthalene and aromatic hydrocarbons. Coal tar is among the by-products when coal iscarbonized to make coke or gasified to make coal gas...
on an industrial scale. He hoped that he would be able to sell this as a sealant for the hulls of ships to the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. After contacts with the British Admiralty were made, a test was performed on a buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
. The buoy was coated on one side and left uncoated on the other. After some time the uncoated half was leaking and full of worms and barnacle
Barnacle
A barnacle is a type of arthropod belonging to infraclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosive settings. They are sessile suspension feeders, and have...
s, while the treated half was in quite good condition. A patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for his invention was drawn up, although all this time the finances were suffering. The family estates
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
were used as collateral
Collateral (finance)
In lending agreements, collateral is a borrower's pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan.The collateral serves as protection for a lender against a borrower's default - that is, any borrower failing to pay the principal and interest under the terms of a loan obligation...
. Only there were powerful interests at play, namely involved with shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
s. A coated ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
could stay in the water for very long periods without needing timbers replaced, when compared to a normal ship meaning demand for new construction would suffer. The patent expired and the Royal Navy adopted the new mixture and began using it, it was however too late for the earl to benefit financially. His other experiments with alum
Alum
Alum is both a specific chemical compound and a class of chemical compounds. The specific compound is the hydrated potassium aluminium sulfate with the formula KAl2.12H2O. The wider class of compounds known as alums have the related empirical formula, AB2.12H2O.-Chemical properties:Alums are...
production, making bread from potatoes, and paint manufacturing also proved unprofitable. His experiments with producing soda
Soda
- Food and beverages :* Soft drink, a beverage product* Carbonated water, also known as "soda water"* Ice cream soda, a dessert dish* Soda cracker, or saltine cracker* Soda bread, a variety of quick bread- Science, technology, and biology :...
from table salt proved more successful but were not enough to reverse his financial misfortunes. He died impoverished in Paris at the age of 83. The earldom of Dundonald passed to his son Thomas Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
.
He married three times. His first wife was Anne Gilchrist, daughter of Captain James Gilchrist whom he married in 1774. After her death, he married Isabella Raymond, daughter of Samuel Raymond, in 1788. His third wife was Anna Maria Plowden, daughter of Francis Plowden whom he married in 1819. He had three sons: Thomas Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
who was a highly successful Royal Navy officer, William Erskine Cochrane who served in the British Army and Archibald Cochrane
Archibald Cochrane (Royal Navy officer)
Captain Archibald Cochrane was a Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century, who served in the Napoleonic Wars. His most noticeable activity came early in his career when he was employed as a midshipman aboard his brother, Commander Thomas Cochrane's ship HMS Speedy...
who also served in the Royal Navy.His younger brother Sir Alexander Cochrane
Alexander Cochrane
Admiral Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane GCB RN was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars.-Naval career:...
was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars.