Frederick Lewis, 1st Baron Essendon (1870–1944), known as Sir Frederick Lewis, Bt, between 1918 and 1932, was a British shipping magnate.

Biography

Frederick Lewis was born in 1870 in

Witton Park Witton Park is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the west of Bishop Auckland. In 2001 it had a population of 384. Famous people born in Witton Park * Brigadier General Roland Boys Bradford VC—youngest ever Brigadier ...

. In 1883, aged 13, he joined

Furness Withy Furness Withy was a major United Kingdom, British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by Christopher Furness, 1st Baron Furness, Christopher Furness and Henry Withy (1852–1922) in 18 ...

& Co, a major shipping company based in

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

. By 1919 he had risen to be a Director of the Company and in that year he led a consortium that took ownership of the business. In 1932 he became Chairman of

Royal Mail Lines The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping grou ...

, which was created from the assets of the collapsed

Royal Mail Steam Packet Company The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping grou ...

after the

Royal Mail Case The Royal Mail Case or ''R v Kylsant & Otrs'' was a noted English criminal case in 1931. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Lord Kylsant, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant to make it lo ...

. Lewis was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1918 and raised to the peerage as Baron Essendon, ''of

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

in the

County of Hertford Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

'', on 20 June 1932. He was instrumental in developing a system of sea water

distiller Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

s which could produce fresh water in lifeboats during an emergency at sea. He died in 1944.

Family

He married (Daisy Ellen) Eleanor Harrison. They had a son,

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

, who became a well-known racing driver, and daughter Frieda (1898–1979), who married Ian Patrick Robert Napier in 1927.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Essendon, Frederick Lewis, 1st Baron 1870 births 1944 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British businesspeople in shipping People from Essendon, Hertfordshire People from Witton Park Barons created by George V