Edward Meldrum


1820 - 1875

Oil shale magnate. Born in Kirkcaldy, Meldrum was educated there and in St. Andrews. He met James Young (1811-83) and in 1848 setup Bathgate Oil and Paraffin works to exploit the oil shales of West Lothian, along with Edward Binney. With others he founded the Uphall Oil Works in 1865 to extract paraffin and other products from the shale. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1863 and served as Deputy-Lieutenant of Linlithgowshire. Meldrum built Dechmont Castle in 1869, where he died aged only 55. His name is remembered in Meldrum Primary School in the Deans neighbourhood of Livingston.


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