William Murdoch was the son of an Ayrshire mill designer. He was born on the 21st August 1754 at Bello Mill Cottage, Lugar, Ayrshire in Scotland.

With his father, he was an inventor from an early age, and in the course of his life he, created amongst other things, a steam-driven tricycle, a steam cannon, a worm-driven cylinder boring machine and underwater paint for ships.

Murdoch had an excellent grasp of mechanics and, in 1777, he walked 300 miles to Birmingham to the Soho Foundry of James Watt, in the hope of persuading him to employ him at his factory. Watt's business partner, engineer Matthew Boulton, interviewed him, as Watt was away at the time. A traditional story about Murdoch is that Boulton was initially cautious about taking on this unknown youngster, and was about to send him away, when Murdoch dropped his top hat. The hat made an unusual sound, and on closer inspection, Boulton realised it was made of wood (or ‘Timmer’). Boulton quizzed the young Scotsman about this, and was astounded to hear that Murdoch had turned the hat from a single piece of wood on a lathe of his own devising. This proof of his skill, together with the strength of character shown by his marathon walk to London, convinced Boulton to give him a job.

In 1782 the company sent him to Redruth in Cornwall to look after their steam engines that they supplied to the tin mining industry. While living in Cross Street, he developed his ‘Steam Devil’, a steam powered road going tricycle.

While living there, Murdoch made an important discovery. He was relaxing by the fire one evening, when he placed some coal dust in the bowl of his pipe, and placed this in the fire. As the pipe heated up, coal gas was formed and came out of the mouthpiece. When it ignited and Murdoch saw it shining brightly, he realized that gas could be used for illumination.

By 1792 William Murdoch had succeeded in lighting his house and office in Cross Street, Redruth, by piped coal gas, and by 1802 his company was using gas lighting outside their factory in Birmingham. During his time in Cornwall, he changed the spelling of his surname to “Murdock” to suit the local pronunciation.

In 1796 Murdoch returned to the Soho Foundry at Birmingham to develop gas lighting commercially.

From this quiet beginning stemmed Glasgow's first attempts at street and building illumination, and in 1817 the Glasgow's Gas Light Company was formed.

William Murdoch died in 1839, and is buried at Handsworth Cemetary in Birmingham. His statue can still be seen as one of the “Three Wise Men”, with Watt and Boulton, situated in Broad Street, Birmingham.