Peter Kerr
Peter Kerr (1818-1869)
1870 Obituary [1]
PETER KERR was born on 11th May 1818 at Paisley, and received his education in the Paisley grammar school and in the Glasgow university.
In 1836 he succeeded his grandfather and father as a manufacturer of thread, and of the heddle twines used in weaving shawls, then the staple business of Paisley. He greatly improved the quality of these manufactures, giving increased ease to the shawl-weaving process by glazing the materials.
In 1866 be went to the United States, and started works in New York for spinning and glazing thread. In the same year he became partner in the old firm of Messrs. Clark and Co. of Paisley, thread manufacturers. He made many improvements in various machines used in the manufacture of thread, and invented a thread-polishing machine, the success of which has been very marked.
In 1869 he made another visit to the United States, for the purpose of improving the manufacture of sewing cotton; and while bathing in the sea at Longbranch, New York, was seized with cramp and drowned, on 2nd August 1869, in the fifty-second year of his age.
He became a Member of the Institution in 1868.