Robert Stirling was born on October 25, 1790, in the parish of Methvin, Perthshire, Scotland. Stirling, the son of a farmer, received a classical education followed by studies in divinity at the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Church of Scotland, after examining his knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, divinity, and church history, licensed Stirling to preach the Gospel in March 1816. Shortly after, Stirling accepted the patronage of the Duke of Portland, who proposed Stirling as a suitable candidate for the vacant post of assistant minister at Kilmarnock. Stirling was ordained on September 19, 1816.

Just eight days after his ordination, Stirling applied for a patent for "Improvements for diminishing the consumption of fuel." He had evidently carried out his experiments while he was a student at Edinburgh, but why a student of divinity should have developed an interest in fuel economy, and gone to the expense of applying...