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Andrew Smith Hallidie, the
mechanical genius who originated cable railway transportation, was born in
London, on March 16, 1836. His grandfather, Smith, a [Scottish]
schoolmaster and soldier during the Napoleonic wars, had served at
Waterloo. His father, Andrew Smith, had been born in Fleming, Dumfrieshire,
Scotland, in 1798, and his mother, Julia Johnstone Smith, was from
Lockerbie, Dumfrieshire. Andrew Smith was an engineer and inventor. Of his
patents those for the making of metal wire ropes, granted from 1835 to
1849, were the most important. Young Andrew Smith later adopted the
surname Hallidie in honor of his godfather and uncle, Sir Andrew Hallidie,
who had been physician to King William IV and to Queen Victoria.
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