Kirkpatrick Macmillan and his Rear-wheel Driven Bicycle

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Kirkpatrick Macmillan: The Rear Wheel Drive Bicycle

The Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick Macmillan rose to prominence in the late 1860s and early 1870s with the claim that he was the first person to invent the rear-wheel drive bicycle.

This finding, however, is now contested by a number of historians who have provided a wealth of evidence and inaccurate testimonies regarding the statements made by those who supported Macmillan’s claim to be the inventor of this mode of transportation.

The first research regarding Macmillan’s work on velocipedes was presented by his cousin and tradesman James Johnston, who asserted that his uncle Macmillan was responsible for creating the first pedal driven bicycle with rear wheel drive as early as 1839. Kirkpatrick Macmillan was born on September 2nd, 1812 in the Scottish civil parish of Keir, Dumfries, and Galloway, located one mile south of the village of Penpont.

The first known demonstration of this type of velocipede on Kirkpatrick Macmillan’s land was held on the 1896 Stanley Show. However, it is now known that the velocipede was actually made by Scottish cartwright Thomas McCall, who was able to create two models of pedal-driven velocipedes in 1869. The velocipede that Kirkpatrick Macmillan claimed to have created was actually a composite of two velocipedes that McCall had created. McCall most likely created this new replica model due to financial constraints.

James Johnston offered numerous justifications for why Kirkpatrick Macmillan invented the first rear-wheel propelled vehicle, despite Thomas McCall being given credit for the invention in contemporary history.

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