Complex sentence: William Brunton (1777--1851), engineer and inventor, was the eldest son of Robert Brunton of Dalkeith, where he was born on 26 May 1777.
Split into simpler sentences: William Brunton (1777--1851), engineer and inventor. Brunton was the eldest son of Robert Brunton, at Dalkeith, where he was born on 26 May 1777.