''William D. Lawrence'' was a full-rigged sailing ship built in

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, along the

Minas Basin , image = Lookout On Way to Cape Split - 25006718579.jpg , alt = , caption = Looking east across the Southern Bight of Minas Basin from The Lookoff , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , ca ...

and named after her builder, the merchant and politician

William Dawson Lawrence William Dawson Lawrence (16 July 1817 – 8 December 1886) was a successful shipbuilder, businessman and politician. He built the ''William D. Lawrence'', which is reported to be the largest wooden ship ever built in Canada. In 1874, W.D. La ...

(1817–1886).

Construction and career

Built in 1874 at the

William D. Lawrence Shipyard The William D. Lawrence Shipyard built vessels from 1859 until 1903 in Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia, Maitland, Nova Scotia. It is most renowned for building the William D. Lawrence (ship), ''William D. Lawrence'' in 1874, reported to be th ...

in Maitland, she was the largest wooden sailing ship of her day, one of the largest wooden ships ever built and the largest sailing ship ever built in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. William Lawrence was a fierce opponent of

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...

which he predicted would bring ruin to Nova Scotia's flourishing shipbuilding industry. Initially planning to build a smaller vessel, he deliberately increased the size of ''William D. Lawrence'' to create a landmark vessel for the province's shipping industry before it declined. The vessel defied critics who claimed that a wooden vessel of its size would be unmanageable and lose money. After several profitable years, the ship was sold to Norwegian owners in 1883 and renamed ''Kommandør Svend Foyn''. She was stranded in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

in 1891 and converted to a barge, later sinking in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

Commemorations

In 1930, William D. Lawrence and his great ship were commemorated by the

Bank of Nova Scotia The Bank of Nova Scotia (french: link=no, Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse), operating as Scotiabank (french: link=no, Banque Scotia), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada ...

, which placed a stone carving of the ship above the door of the head office building in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

(located on Hollis Street, directly across from Province House). A monument dedicated to Lawrence's ship as a national historic treasure was erected on the grounds of his home in 1967, and his home was opened to the public as a provincial museum site on August 11, 1971. The ship has also been commemorated by the Canada Post with a postage stamp (1975) and the

Royal Canadian Mint }) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufacture ...

with a coin (2002). The ship was the subject of at least three formal ship portraits, one at the

Nova Scotia Museum Nova Scotia Museum (NSM) is the corporate name for the 28 museums across Nova Scotia, Canada, and is part of the province's tourism infrastructure. The organization manages more than 200 historic buildings, living history sites, vessels, and speci ...

displayed at Lawrence House in Maitland, one at the Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management in Halifax and one by Edouard-Marie Adam at the

Musée national de la Marine The Musée national de la Marine (National Navy Museum) is a maritime museum located in the Palais de Chaillot, Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It has annexes at Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort ( Musée National de la Marine de ...

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. The vessel's achievement is commemorated in Maitland by a National Historic Site monument at the restored home of her builder, Lawrence House, part of the

. Maitland celebrates the launch of ''William D. Lawrence'' every September at a weekend festival called "Launch Days".

Notes

References

*Armour, Charles; Lackey, Thomas (1975). ''Sailing Ships of the Maritime''. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. . {{DEFAULTSORT:William D. Lawrence Tall ships of Canada Individual sailing vessels Ships built in Nova Scotia Victorian-era merchant ships of Canada Sailing ships of Canada 1874 ships Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Shipwrecks of Africa Full-rigged ships