Sir William Beardmore

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

Beardmore was born in Deptford, London, where his father, also William Beardmore, was a mechanical engineer. In 1861 his family moved to Glasgow, where his father was co-founder of 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.

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.

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