William Beardmore, 1st Baron Invernairn

Last updated

The Lord Invernairn
DL
Sir William Beardmore.jpg
Sketch of Sir William Beardmore, 1921
Chairman and Managing Director of William Beardmore & Company
In office
1902 9 April 1936
Personal details
Born
William Beardmore

(1856-10-16)16 October 1856
Deptford, London, England
Died9 April 1936(1936-04-09) (aged 79)
Strathnairn, Inverness-shire, Scotland
OccupationShipbuilder

William Beardmore, 1st Baron Invernairn, DL (16 October 1856 – 9 April 1936), known as Sir William Beardmore, Bt, between 1914 and 1921, was a British industrialist, founding the eponymous William Beardmore and Company.

Contents

Background and education

Beardmore was born in Greenwich, London, in the family home. His father, also William Beardmore, was a mechanical engineer, working for the General Steam Navigation Company in Deptford. In 1861 his family moved to Glasgow, where his father bought the Parkhead Forge, a steel mill and supplier to the thriving shipbuilding and railway industries on the Clyde in the east end of the city. He was educated at the High School of Glasgow and Ayr Academy. When he was fifteen, he began an apprenticeship at Parkhead, while taking night classes at Anderson's University. On completing his apprenticeship in 1877 he enrolled at the Royal School of Mines in South Kensington, London.

Business career

Beardmore's father died shortly afterwards and the retirement of the third business partner saw William's uncle Isaac become sole proprietor. William became a junior partner in 1879 and on his uncle's retirement seven years later he became the sole proprietor of the business. He rapidly expanded the business and formed it into the limited company of William Beardmore & Company, of which he became chairman and managing director, in 1902. In 1899, he bought the world-famous yard of Robert Napier and Sons at Govan, on the Clyde. In 1900 he became chairman of J. I. Thornycroft & Co, the torpedo boat builders. In 1902 he also became a shareholder and director of the armaments firm Vickers and the motor manufacturers Arrol-Johnston.

Over the years he diversified his business to include the production of vehicles, armaments, including shells and tanks, aircraft, airships and motorcycles. The original forge business continued to produce a wide array of steel materials, including armour plate, castings, axles, railway equipment, boiler plate and wheels. In 1900, he purchased land on the north bank of the Clyde at Dalmuir, adjacent to the famous yard of John Brown & Company at Clydebank. This he developed into one of the largest and most modern shipyards in the world, but the post-war decline in shipbuilding saw this yard close in 1936.

Amongst ships built by Beardmore were the SS Warilda, later HMAT Warilda, for the Adelaide Steamship Company, the dreadnought HMS Conqueror, the battleship HMS Ramillies, and the first through-deck aircraft carrier HMS Argus. Beardmore sponsored Ernest Shackleton's 1907 Antarctic expedition, and it named the Beardmore Glacier after him.

He was a member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Iron and Steel Institute, and the Institution of Shipbuilders and Engineers in Scotland. He was also chairman of the Industrial Welfare Society. In 1918 he was awarded the Bessemer Gold Medal of the Iron and Steel Institute for his services to the industry. [1]

Beardmore was created a Baronet, of Flichity in the County of Inverness, in 1914 [2] and raised to the peerage as Baron Invernairn, of Strathnairn in the County of Inverness, in the 1921 New Year Honours. [3]

Personal life

Lord Invernairn died at his home in Strathnairn, Inverness-shire of heart failure on 9 April 1936, aged 79. The baronetcy and barony died with him.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vickers</span> British engineering company

Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 1867, acquired more businesses, and began branching out into military hardware and shipbuilding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harland & Wolff</span> Shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding and fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the White Star Line, including Olympic-class trioRMS Olympic, RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic. Outside of White Star Line, other ships that have been built include the Royal Navy's HMS Belfast; Royal Mail Line's Andes; Shaw, Savill & Albion's Southern Cross; Union-Castle's RMS Pendennis Castle; P&O's Canberra; and Hamburg-America's SS Amerika of 1905. Harland and Wolff's official history, Shipbuilders to the World, was published in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Govan</span> Area of Glasgow, Scotland

Govan is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated 2+12 miles west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick. Historically it was part of the County of Lanark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Kirkwood</span> Scottish politician, trade unionist and socialist activist (1872–1955)

David Kirkwood, 1st Baron Kirkwood, PC, was a Scottish politician, trade unionist and socialist activist from the East End of Glasgow, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for nearly 30 years, and was as a leading figure of the Red Clydeside era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John I. Thornycroft & Company</span> Shipbuilding company in the United Kingdom

John I. Thornycroft & Company Limited, usually known simply as Thornycroft, was a British shipbuilding firm founded by John Isaac Thornycroft in Chiswick in 1866. It moved to Woolston, Southampton, in 1908, merging in 1966 with Vosper & Company to form one organisation called Vosper Thornycroft. From 2002 to 2010 the company acquired several international and US-based defence and services companies, and changed name to the VT Group. In 2008 VT's UK shipbuilding and support operations were merged with those of BAE Systems to create BVT Surface Fleet. In 2010 remaining parts of the company were absorbed by Babcock International who retained the UK and international operations, but sold the US based operations to the American Jordan Company, who took the name VT Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Brown & Company</span> British marine engineering and shipbuilding firm (1851–1986)

John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including RMS Lusitania, RMS Aquitania, HMS Hood, HMS Repulse, RMS Queen Mary, RMS Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Beardmore and Company</span> British engineering and shipbuilding company

William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 people. It was founded and owned by William Beardmore, later Lord Invernairn, after whom the Beardmore Glacier was named.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalmuir</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Dalmuir is an area nine miles northwest of Glasgow, Scotland, on the western side of Clydebank, and part of West Dunbartonshire Council Area. The name is a lowland Scots derivation of the Gaelic meaning Big Field. The area was originally two separate villages with Dalmuir Shore joining with Clydebank in 1886 and Dalmuir Village in 1906, during a period of rapid industrialisation and expansion. Dalmuir is bounded by the village of Old Kilpatrick to the west, the Mountblow and Parkhall housing schemes to the north, and the Clydebank town centre area to the east. To the south is the River Clyde.

John Macgregor (1802–1858) was a Scottish shipbuilder.

Vickers Limited was a British engineering conglomerate. The business began in Sheffield in 1828 as a steel foundry and became known for its church bells, going on to make shafts and propellers for ships, armour plate and then artillery. Entire large ships, cars, tanks and torpedoes followed. Airships and aircraft were added, and Vickers jet airliners were to remain in production until 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Napier (engineer)</span> Scottish marine engineer (1791 – 1876)

Robert Napier was a Scottish marine engineer known for his contributions to Clyde shipbuilding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Connell and Company</span> Scottish shipbuilding company

Charles Connell and Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Scotstoun in Glasgow on the River Clyde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titan Clydebank</span> Cantilever crane at Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland

Titan Clydebank, more commonly known as the Titan Crane is a 150-foot-high (46 m) cantilever crane at Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It was designed to be used in the lifting of heavy equipment, such as engines and boilers, during the fitting-out of battleships and ocean liners at the John Brown & Company shipyard. It was also the world's first electrically powered cantilever crane, and the largest crane of its type at the time of its completion.

Firth Brown Steels was initially formed in 1902, when Sheffield steelmakers John Brown & Company exchanged shares and came to a working agreement with neighbouring company Thomas Firth & Sons. In 1908 the two companies came together and established the Brown Firth Research Laboratories and it was here, in 1912, under the leadership of Harry Brearley they developed high chrome stainless steel. The companies continued under their own management until they formally merged in 1930 becoming Firth Brown Steels. The company is now part of Sheffield Forgemasters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir James Lithgow, 1st Baronet</span>

Sir James Lithgow, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish industrialist who played a major role in restructuring the British shipbuilding and steelmaking industries in the 1930s in addition to playing an important role in formulating public policy and supervising wartime production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Jubilee University National Hospital</span> Hospital in Scotland

The Golden Jubilee University National Hospital is a hospital in Clydebank, near Glasgow, Scotland. It was opened in 1994 and is managed by a Special Health Board appointed by NHS Scotland.

London and Glasgow Shipbuilding Company, also known as the London and Glasgow Engineering and Iron Shipbuilding Company, was a shipbuilding firm established in 1864 by a consortium of London bankers, including the Glasgow engineer James Rodger. They acquired the Middleton Yard in Govan in 1864, and soon acquired more land at Ron Bank in Govan which belonged to the Lochhead family. The old Lochhead land lay between Robert Napier and Sons "Old Yard" and the Middleton Yard allowing expansion to the west. London & Glasgow Engineering and Iron Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. also bought land at Lancefield on the northern side of the River Clyde and established a boiler workshop there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Napier and Sons</span>

Messrs Robert Napier and Sons was a famous firm of Clyde shipbuilders and marine engineers at Govan, Glasgow founded by Robert Napier in 1826. It was moved to Govan for more space in 1841. His sons James and John were taken into partnership in 1853.

HMS <i>Llewellyn</i> (1913) British L-Class destroyer, WW1

HMS Llewellyn was a Laforey-class destroyer that served with the Royal Navy. Laid down on 14 December 1912 as HMS Picton, the ship was renamed on 30 September 1913 under an Admiralty order to become one of the first alphabetical class destroyers, being launched on 30 October. On commissioning, the vessel joined the Third Destroyer Flotilla and operated as part of the Harwich Force during the First World War. The destroyer took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, as well as undertaking anti-submarine patrols and escort duties. It was during one of these patrols on 4 December 1916 that the vessel unsuccessfully attacked the German submarine UB-18. On 17 March 1917, the destroyer was struck in the bow by a torpedo launched by a German torpedo boat while rescuing survivors from the sunk destroyer Paragon, but returned to port safely by steaming backwards. With the cessation of hostilities, the ship was placed in reserve. Although subsequently offered for sale to the Finnish Navy, Llewellyn was instead withdrawn from service and sold to be broken up on 18 March 1922.

References

  1. "Awards archive". IOM3. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  2. "No. 28796". The London Gazette . 27 January 1914. p. 733.
  3. "No. 32209". The London Gazette . 28 January 1921. p. 778.

Further reading

Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Invernairn
1921–1936
Extinct
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Flichity)
1914–1936
Extinct