George Arbuthnot Burns, 2nd Baron Inverclyde (17 September 1861 – 8 October 1905) was the chairman of the board of the Cunard Line. Burns was the elder son of

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

, First Baron Inverclyde (24 June 1829 – 12 February 1901). Burns's fleet of ships amounted to over 100 vessels, trading between the Clyde,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. His father eventually handed him control of the Cunard Steamship Company, making him chairman. He was Justice of the Peace for

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

and

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

, and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 1 July 1902. He was also Lord Dean of Guild of the City of Glasgow, 1903–4. On 6 April 1886, he married Mary Fergusson, younger daughter of Hickson Fergusson, of The Knowe,

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

. However, he died of pneumonia and complications of surgery at the age of 44. He had no children, and the titles and business passed to his younger brother, James Cleland Burns, 3rd Baron Inverclyde (1864–1919).L. G. Pine, ''The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms'' (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 156. Cited by ThePeerage.com He spearheaded the development of the steamships

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...

and RMS Mauretania but died before the ships were launched. His widow, Lady Mary, christened the ''Lusitania'' at her launching in June 1906.

References

Book cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Inverclyde, George Burns, 2nd Baron Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom 1861 births 1905 deaths Businesspeople from Glasgow Nobility from Glasgow People associated with Inverclyde Directors of the Glasgow and South Western Railway 19th-century British businesspeople Scottish justices of the peace