Scottish marine engineer whose introduction of the compound steam engine on ships cut fuel consumption and helped make practical long voyages on which refueling was impossible.

The son of an inventor, Elder served a five-year apprenticeship with a Glasgow firm and then worked in engine factories in England. On his return to Scotland he joined a firm of millwrights, which later, as Randolph, Elder, and Company, entered the marine-engineering field. In 1854 he developed the marine compound steam engine (using both high and low pressures), which enabled seagoing vessels to save 30 to 40 percent of the coal they had been burning. As a partner and subsequently as sole owner of the business, he was an enlightened employer with a far-sighted attitude toward management–labour relations. In 1869 he was elected president of the Institute of Engineers and Shipbuilders of Glasgow.