William Schaw Lindsay
|
W.S. Lindsay MP |
|
|---|---|
Lindsay c1855.
|
|
| Born |
William Schaw Lindsay 19 December 1815 Ayr, Scotland |
| Died | 28 August 1877 (aged 61) Shepperton, Middlesex, England |
| Education | Ayr Academy |
| Occupation | Mariner, shipowner, Member of Parliament and author |
| Years active | 1834–1877 |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Stewart (1843–1877) |
| Children | William Stewart Lindsay |
| Parent(s) | Joseph Lindsay Mary Belch |
William Schaw Lindsay (19 December 1815 – 28 August 1877) was a British merchant and shipowner who was the Liberal Member of Parliament for Tynemouth and North Shields from 1854–1859 and for Sunderland from 1859 until his resignation on grounds of ill-health in 1864.
He was born in Ayr in South-West Scotland on 19 December 1815 at the manse of his uncle, the Reverend William Schaw. He lost both his parents by the time he was ten and was brought up by his uncle, a free kirk minister. Reverend William wished him to follow the same calling but he instead left home in 1831 and worked his passage to Liverpool by trimming coals on board a collier. He was subsequently engaged as a cabin-boy aboard the West Indiaman Isabella. In 1834 he became second mate, but soon afterwards received severe injuries following a shipwreck. On his recovery in 1835 he became chief mate of the Olive Branch, a merchantman owned by a Mr. Greenwell of Sunderland. In 1836 he was appointed captain of the vessel, and in 1839, when in the Persian Gulf, he was wounded during an encounter with a pirate. He retired from the sea in 1840.
Lindsay found further employment with Mr. Greenwell in 1841 as an agent for the Castle Eden Coal Company in Hartlepool where he played a part in the town becoming an independent port, and helped to create its docks and wharves. In 1845 he moved to London to represent the company. With the coal-fitting business he combined that of shipbroking and an agency for his brother-in-law, a Glasgow iron merchant. He established the firm of W. S. Lindsay & Co., which soon became one of the largest shipowning concerns in the world, and he retained his connection with it until ill-health compelled him to retire in 1864.
In 1852, Lindsay ordered the 900 ton W. S. Lindsay, the largest iron ship that had been built to date from the Tyneside shipyard of Coutts and Parkinson. She was designed to take emigrants to Australia and although she cost one-third more than similar vessels, the ship was three times more efficient with 280 cabins including 60 in first class. Lindsay held 54 of the 64 shares in the ship and her master, George Western, the other ten. The W. S. Lindsay overturned in a storm in The Downs on her maiden voyage with 300 passengers aboard; she had to be towed back to London at a cost of £3,000.
...
Wikipedia