William Royse Lysaght (23 July 1858 – 27 April 1945) was a steel manufacturer and collector of bird specimens.

Early life

Lysaght was born on 23 July 1858, the son of Thomas Royse Lysaght and Emily Lysaght (''née'' Moss). He was the nephew of John Lysaght, the founder of steel manufacturers John Lysaght and Co.

Career as steelmaker

From 1874 Lysaght worked at the Gospel Oak works in

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...

, learning to produce sheet iron. John Lysaght purchased the Swan Garden ironworks of

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

in 1878 and William then became its manager, and he also managed the Osier Bed ironworks after that was purchased in 1885. Over the following 10 years, William helped his uncle John plan a new sheet-rolling plant in

Newport, Wales Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest a ...

. After the death of his uncle 1895, Lysaght completed the project with the opening of the Orb Works in 1897. By 1901 Lysaght had transferred sheet metal production from Wolverhampton to Newport and went on to manage expansion of the company which employed 3000 workers by 1913. William and his brother Sydney went on to build the Normanby Park Steelworks in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

and, when exports were interrupted by the First World War, they began construction of an Australian steelworks in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

, which eventually opened in 1921. The Lysaght companies were sold to H. Seymour Berry and became part of

Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...

(GKN) in 1920, Lysaght becoming a director of GKN.

Later life

Lysaght married Effie Elizabeth Stavern Gladstone in 1890 and had three children. In 1915 he became

High Sheriff of Monmouthshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Monmouthshire, an office which was created in 1536 but not fully settled until 1540. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, the shrievalty of Monmouthshire was abolished, and replac ...

, and was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1918 New Year Honours The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Ja ...

for his services as an adviser to the wartime Ministry of Munitions. He died on 27 April 1945 at his home near

Tidenham Tidenham () is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean of west Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the Welsh border. Tidenham is bounded by the River Wye (which forms the Welsh border) to the west and the River Severn to the south. Offa ...

, Gloucestershire, with a wealth of £277,367 17s. 8d.

Bird collection

Lysaght acquired most of his collection from E M Connop of Wroxham, near Norwich, in 1912 or 1913. The vast majority of specimens were from Norfolk and it is believed that many of the remainder were added by Lysaght himself. The 1913 catalogue of the collection, then kept at Castleford Museum in

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the wester ...

, lists 1,860 birds in 680 cases or as individual specimens. After Lysaght's death, his son Desmond Lysaght offered the collection in 1954 to

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local ...

, which was only able to accept a selection of it because of limited storage space' The W R Lysaght Collection at Birmingham now totals almost 1300 specimens, representing 325 different species.

W.R. Lysaght Institute

At Newport, where employment at the Orb steel works peaked at over 3,500 employees, the W.R.

Lysaght Institute John Lysaght and Co. was an iron and steel company established in Bristol, England, and with later operations in Wolverhampton, Newport, and Scunthorpe. The company was acquired by GKN in 1920. The founder John Lysaght (1832–1895) was bo ...

was opened in December 1928 on Corporation Road, as a memorial to its namesake's fifty years as the company's chairman, Forlorn Britain: The Orb Steelworks, Newport
Retrieved 15 November 2013 and to celebrate the contribution of its employees to the success of the works. It was financed jointly by the company and its workers, stood in 8 acres of grounds near the works entrance, and provided a range of facilities for staff including a ballroom, tennis courts, bowling green, and ornamental gardens. It closed in 2001, and soon became derelict. The site was initially purchased by a housing developer, but was later sold and in 2008 was bought by Linc-Cymru.History of Lysaght Institute
Retrieved 19 November 2013 It was refurbished and reopened as a community centre in November 2012. "Historic Lysaght Institute reopens", ITV Wales, 7 November 2012
Retrieved 19 November 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lysaght, William Royse 1858 births 1945 deaths British ornithologists People from Tidenham Commanders of the Order of the British Empire High Sheriffs of Monmouthshire Welsh justices of the peace British industrialists