David Napier was born in
Dumbarton to a family of engineers (the
Kilmahew branch of the
Napier family). He was the son of Robert Napier (1726–1790), and cousin of another
Robert Napier – known as the "Father of Clyde Shipbuilding." One of David Napier's uncles had served as a
blacksmith for the
Duke of Argyll. He eventually moved south, and worked for
Henry Maudslay before founding his own precision engineering company in 1808 in
Soho, London. In 1848, it became
D. Napier & Son, when he added his son James Napier to the business partnership. The company produced machines for bullet-making, gun-boring and turning for a number of government arsenals, as well as coin-weighing machines for the
Bank of England, two-cylinder printing presses (designed to print simultaneously on both sides of a sheet of paper) and a centrifuge for sugar manufacturing. His machines were described as "delicate as any clock could be", and his printing press in particular earned praise by
Thomas Curson Hansard. After his death his grandson
Montague Napier, would make the company famous for first
motor vehicles and later
aero engines. ==References==