Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article by John C. Griffiths, 'Murdock, William (1754–1839)',[1], accessed 21 May 2007: About 1792, while residing at Redruth, Murdock began a series of experiments on the illuminating properties of gases produced by distilling coal, wood, peat, and suchlike. Initially he appears to have heated coal in a kettle with a thimble over the spout, and ignited the gas so produced. But by 1794 a much larger retort in his back yard allowed him to light his living room, as Francis Trevithick later wrote: ‘Those still live who saw the gas-pipes conveying gas from the retort in the little yard to near the ceiling of the room, just over the table. A hole for the pipe was made in the window-frame’ (F. Trevithick, Life of Richard Trevithick, with an account of his inventions, 2 vols. (1872), page 64).
