James Blair Sherwood (August 8, 1933 – May 18, 2020) was an American-born, British-based businessman, and the founder of

Belmond Limited Belmond Ltd. (formerly Orient-Express Hotels Ltd) is a hospitality and leisure company that operates luxury hotels, train services and river cruises worldwide. In 2015, the company had 35 deluxe hotels, 7 tourist trains, 3 river cruises and rest ...

and Sea Containers.

Early life

James Blair Sherwood was born in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, the son of William Sherwood, a patent attorney, and Florence. He grew up in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, and earned a degree in economics from Yale University. Sherwood learned about shipping first in the United States Navy, spending three years as a cargo officer, and then working for United States Lines and CTI for six years.

Business career

In 1965, Sherwood founded Bermuda-based, New York Stock Exchange listed, London-headquartered shipping company Sea Containers with initial capital of $100,000. Over forty years Sherwood expanded Sea Containers from a supplier of leased cargo containers, into various shipping companies, as well as expanding the company into luxury hotels and railway trains, including the

Venice-Simplon Orient Express The ''Venice Simplon-Orient-Express'' (VSOE) is a private luxury train service from London to Venice and other European cities. It is currently owned by Belmond, which operates 45 luxury hotels, restaurants, tourist trains and river cruises in ...

and Great North Eastern Railway that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise. Although valued with a net worth of £60million in the 2004

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...

, as Sea Containers hit financial troubles, he resigned as Co-Chief Executive Officer from each of his companies in 2006. He continued as a Director of Orient Express Hotels Ltd until retiring on 9 June 2011. He was later designated as Founder and Chairman Emeritus.

Personal life

In 1977, Sherwood married the writer and botanist Shirley Cross. Her sons, Simon and Charles, from her previous marriage adopted his surname. He died on May 18, 2020, of complications after abdominal surgery, aged 86.

References

External links

Portrait Sculpture of James Sherwood
by

John W Mills John William Mills (born 4 March 1933, London) is an English sculptor. He studied at Hammersmith School of Art, 1947–54, and at the Royal College of Art, 1956–60. He was a resident at Digswell House 1962–66, and currently lives at Hinxw ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwood, James Blair 1933 births 2020 deaths Military personnel from Lexington, Kentucky Yale University alumni United States Navy officers American chief executives of travel and tourism industry companies American expatriates in the United Kingdom