Robert Foulis

Robert Foulis (1796– January 28, 1866) was a Canadian inventor, civil engineer and artist noted for his invention of the steam-powered foghorn. Early life Robert Foulis was born May 5, 1796, in Glasgow, Scotland. After training in engineering, he moved to Belfast, where he met his first wife, Elizabeth Leatham. After her death in childbirth in 1817. After her death Foulis determined to move to the United States. Leaving his newborn daughter with a great-aunt (who would later join him), he set sail for the US. Due to a storm, his ship had to put in to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Scottish friends convinced him to stay. Sources vary on his date of arrival in Halifax, with both 1818 and 1819 possible. In Halifax he taught drawing classes and painted portraits in oil. Life in Saint John In 1820 settled in Saint John, New Brunswick, where he was appointed deputy land surveyor in 1822. After he surveyed the upper Saint John River for the feasibility of steamshipping, he became involved with the buildings of several early steamboats and the first Saint John harbour ferry. In 1825, Foulis founded the Saint John Foundry, the province's second iron foundry. He continued his interest art, founding a School of Arts in 1838.