George Lennox Watson

George Lennox Watson
Portrait from an Ogden's Cigarette Card
Born	30 October 1851 Glasgow
Died	12 November 1904 (1904-11-13) (aged 53) Glasgow
Nationality	British
Occupation	Architect
Practice	G.L. Watson & Co.
Design	HMY Britannia, Shamrock II, Rainbow,

George Lennox Watson (30 October 1851 – 12 November 1904) was a Scottish naval architect. He was born in Glasgow, son of Thomas Lennox Watson, a doctor at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and grandson of Sir Timothy Burstall, engineer and entrant at the 1829 Rainhill Trials.

As a young boy in the late 1850s Watson often spent holidays at Inverkip on the Firth of Clyde, where through his friendship the local skipper William Mackie he developed his passion for yachts and resolved to make naval architecture his living. At the age of 16 Watson became an apprentice draughtsman at the shipyard of Robert Napier and Sons in Glasgow.

During his training at Napier’s yard Watson was at the early stages of using theories of hydrodynamics as influences in yacht design. After practising at J&A Inglis, Shipbuilders, in 1873 (at the age of 22) Watson set out to found the world's first yacht design office dedicated to small craft. His first design, Peg Woffington featured an unorthodox reverse bow which undoubtedly drew attention to the young designer. Successes followed with yachts such as Vril and Verve which were built for a growing client base of wealthy Clyde industrialists. Notable examples include the Coats family of Paisley and the Allan Brothers of the famous Scotch-Canadian shipping line.

Watson's successes on the proving ground of the Clyde soon attracted larger commissions from more high-profile clients such as the Vanderbilt family, Earl of Dunraven, Sir Thomas Lipton, the Rothschild family, Charles Lindsay Orr-Ewing, Whitaker Wright and Wilhelm II, German Emperor. Commissioning amongst others, four America's Cup challengers and the largest sailing schooner of its time, Rainbow.