James Finlayson (industrialist)

James Finlayson (29 August 1772 Penicuik Scotland – 18 August 1852 Edinburgh Scotland) was a British Quaker who, in effect, brought the Industrial Revolution to Tampere, Finland, founding in 1820 the Finlayson company.^[1][2][3]

Finlayson was born 1772 ^[1] in Penicuik and became a self-trained engineer. In 1817, he moved to St. Petersburg to found a textile factory with the backing of Tsar Alexander I of Russia.

In 1819 Finlayson visited the Grand Duchy of Finland, at the time under Russian rule. During his religious mission to sell bibles, he visited Tampere. The next year Finlayson received permission from the Senate of Finland to build a factory in Tampere using water power from the Tammerkoski rapids. He moved to Tampere with his wife Margaret Finlayson.

At first Finlayson had to import machinists from Britain to train new workers. The first factory was completed 1823 with the aid of a state loan, with the stipulation that the technology employed could be freely inspected by the public to further civic technological advancement. Initially he manufactured machinery suitable for the textile industry but in 1828 switched from machine manufacture to cotton mills. He also founded an orphanage.