Macadam

Macadam, John Loudon (1756-1836), inventor of the method of paving roads with layers of small pieces of hard stone, was born at Ayr, and, having lost his father, went at the age of fourteen years to an uncle in New York. During the American War of Independence he made a fortune, but at the end of the war returned to Scotland almost destitute. In 1782 he undertook to victual the navy in the western ports of England, and resided first at Falmouth and then at Bristol, where in 1815 he was appointed surveyor of roads and put in practice his scheme for improved road-making. The House of Commons eventually repaid his outlay, and gave him an honorarium of £2,000 for his invention. He died at Moffat.