Duncan McKechnie
Duncan McKechnie (1831–1913), born Duncan McGeachy in Lailt, Kintyre, Scotland, was a British chemical manufacturer and copper extractor. He trained as a soap boiler in Glasgow, then worked as a foreman at a soap and alkali works in Runcorn, Cheshire. In 1869 he joined a new chemical venture in Runcorn but soon left to start his own metal‑extraction business in St Helens.
He built a copper extraction business by the Sankey Canal, later moving to a larger site southeast of the town and employing about 70 workers. The company showcased its products at the 1887 Jubilee Exhibition in Manchester, including copper, silver, lead, iron oxide, sulfuric acid and copper sulphate. They were a major supplier of copper sulphate used to combat Phylloxera wine disease. In 1891 the United Alkali Company bought his business for about £109,480, and McKechnie became a director.
McKechnie was a Presbyterian elder and active in public life. He served as a town councillor and was mayor of St Helens in 1887. He became a magistrate in 1890 and a county magistrate in 1894, and he helped run the Provident Free Hospital.
He and Agnes Miller had eleven children. Agnes died in 1895; Duncan died in 1913 of bladder cancer and was buried in St Helens.
After his death his sons Daniel Montgomery and Alexander Miller started McKechnie Brothers, a copper and silver smelting business in Widnes. It grew into a larger company, later becoming McKechnie plc in 1984 after a series of changes.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:14 (CET).