A Scottish chemist noted for his 1852 patent for the distillation of shale, and as the founder of the paraffin industry. Born in Glasgow, James (Paraffin) Young began his career working for his father’s carpentry business and at a young age chose to attend evening classes on chemistry delivered by Thomas Graham at the Andersonian Institution (now the University of Strathclyde). Graham recognized Young’s talents and offered him a position as assistant in his laboratory in 1832. When Graham went to University College London in 1837 he took Young with him. There Young distinguished himself as a technical chemist not only in terms of producing chemicals but also in the difficult task of avoiding nuisance and injury, which is a precursor to health and safety. Young’s career (p. 418) took him to St Helens College, and then on to Manchester where he became interested in oil that was found flowing from a pit in Derbyshire. This led to his work on oil production by the low-temperature distillation of shale. When the oil seepage ran out, he returned to Scotland in 1851 to set up a works near Bathgate to produce and refine oil from a rich coal seam, which was being mined nearby. Young patented his method, which earned him a considerable fortune. Today, the Grangemouth refinery nearby is a lasting legacy of oil processing and refining.

http://www.scottishshale.co.uk/HistoryPages/Biographies/JamesYoung.htmlOfficial website of the Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry, page devoted to James Young biography.