# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/william-symington
# Generated: 2026-08-13T15:48:04.872Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/william-symington"
name: "William Symington"
slug: "william-symington"
description: "William Symington (1764–1831) was a Scottish engineer and inventor during the Georgian era. He is most well known as the builder of the first practical steamboat, the Charlotte Dundas. The engine has been described as \"without doubt the most compact and efficient marine steam engine up to that time\" and its design would influence later steamboat and steamship engine designs. While Symington died in poverty after failing to commercialise his steam engine designs, he is still credited as one of the great inventors of the early Industrial Revolution."
tagline: "British engineer"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/William_Symington.png?width=1200"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1763"
deathDate: "1831-03-22"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           44.74
  momentum:             9.148484848484847
  historical:           8.545177333333333
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     54.99999999999999
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Symington"
    title: "William Symington"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Symington"
    title: "William Symington"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Symington"
    title: "William Symington"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Symington"
    title: "William Symington"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Symington"
    title: "William Symington"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Symington"
    title: "William Symington"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://mg.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Symington"
    title: "William Symington"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Symington"
    title: "William Symington"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Symington"
    title: "William Symington"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Symington"
    title: "William Symington"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q984209"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump