
Sir William Pearce, 1st Baronet (8 January 1833 – 18 December 1888)
[
] was a British shipbuilder, under whose management the
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Na ...
in
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...
on the
River Clyde
The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...
became the leading shipbuilding company in the world.
He was later a
Conservative Party politician.
Career
Pearce was born at Brompton near
Chatham in Kent, the son of Joseph George Pearce.
He trained as a shipwright and naval architect at the
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...
. After supervising the construction of
HMS ''Achilles'', the first
ironclad warship
An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship protected by steel or iron armor constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The firs ...
built in Chatham, he moved in 1863 to
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
to take up the post of surveyor to the
Lloyd's Register
Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...
on the Clyde.
His career then developed rapidly. A year after arriving on
Clydeside
Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...
, he became general manager of
Robert Napier and Sons
Messrs Robert Napier and Sons was a famous firm of Clyde shipbuilders and marine engineers at Govan, Glasgow founded by Robert Napier in 1826. It was moved to Govan for more space in 1841. His sons James and John were taken into partnership in ...
, where he designed innovative fast, transatlantic liners for the
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the name ''Compagnie ...
. In 1869 he became a partner in
John Elder & Co, and after the retirement of the other partners he became the firm's sole owner in 1878. In 1886, spending more time on his political career in London, he converted the business to a
limited company
In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...
, the
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Na ...
.
Pearce remained as chairman.
[ ]
Fairfield became a world leader in ship design and marine engineering, and was most famous for the development of the
triple expansion engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transf ...
. The shipyard and
offices
An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...
in
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...
occupied a site of over , and employed up to 5000 workers. It built ships for the major shipping lines, including the
Pacific Steam Navigation Company
The Pacific Steam Navigation Company () was a British commercial shipping company that operated along the Pacific coast of South America, and was the first to use steam ships for commercial traffic in the Pacific Ocean. At one point in the 1870s, ...
, the
New Zealand Shipping Company
The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was a shipping company whose ships ran passenger and cargo services between Great Britain and New Zealand between 1873 and 1973.
A group of Christchurch businessmen founded the company in 1873, similar ...
, and the
British and Africa Steam Navigation Company. Pearce was a major shareholder in the first of these clients, and was also chairman of the
Guion Steamship Company, and of the
Scottish Oriental Steamship Company.
In 1888 he got Fairfield's to build him a luxurious steam yacht for his own use: ''SY Lady Torfrida'' (545 tons). This was little used before his death and sold in 1890 to
Bayard Brown who renamed it ''SY Valfreyia''. It was sold again in 1928 to the
Maharajah
Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However, in late ancient India ...
of
Nawanagar and renamed ''Star of India''.
Politics
As one of Govan's leading businessmen, Pearce took up public office as a Commissioner (councillor) for the Burgh of Govan.
He unsuccessfully contested the
Glasgow constituency at the
1880 general election,
but after the
redistribution of seats he was elected at the
1885 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for the new
Govan constituency.
His victory was narrow, with a majority of only 155 votes over his
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world.
The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
opponent.
Pearce was re-elected at the
1886 election with a slightly increased majority of 362 votes,
and on 21 July 1887 he was made 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 ...
, of Cardell in the County of
Renfrew
Renfrew (; ; ) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gaine ...
.
Death and legacy
Pearce died suddenly at the age of 55 in his home on
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
in London,
on 18 December 1888.
He is interred at
Gillingham, Kent
Gillingham ( ) is a town in Kent, England, which forms a conurbation with neighbouring Chatham, Kent, Chatham, Rochester, Kent, Rochester, Strood and Rainham, Kent, Rainham. It is the largest town in the borough of Medway and in 2020 had a populat ...
. An independent memorial was erected in
Craigton Cemetery
Craigton Cemetery is a cemetery in south-west Glasgow dating from the mid-19th century. It stands on Berryknowes Road.
The cemetery has a Jewish section containing 230 graves. The cemetery also contains 251 commonwealth war graves from the Fir ...
in south-west Glasgow. The monument was designed by the architects
Honeyman and Keppie
Honeyman and Keppie was a major architectural firm based in Glasgow, created by John Honeyman (architect), John Honeyman and John Keppie in 1888 following the death of James Sellars in whose architectural practice Keppie had worked. Their most no ...
. Bronze plaques and a bust of Pearce were designed by sculptor
Albert Toft
Albert Toft (3 June 1862 – 18 December 1949) was a British sculptor.
Toft's career was dominated by public commemorative commissions in bronze, mostly single statues of military or royal figures. The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in ...
. Standing near the entrance of the cemetery the impressive monument was robbed of its architectural bronzes in 1970 and ultimately demolished in 1976 due to its excessive vandalism.
[Glasgow Herald (newspaper) 17 August 1976]
He was survived by his wife Dinah Elizabeth Socoter, who was originally from
Gravesend
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...
in Kent. Their only child was
William George Pearce, who succeeded to the baronetcy.
His estate was valued for
probate
In common law jurisdictions, probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased; or whereby, in the absence of a legal will, the e ...
purposes at £1,069,669.
His statue still stands at Govan Cross near the Pearce Institute, a building containing a public hall, library and other rooms, which was given to Govan by his widow.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, William
1833 births
1888 deaths
People from Chatham, Kent
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies
1
Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912)
UK MPs 1885–1886
UK MPs 1886–1892
British shipbuilders
Govan
Scottish businesspeople in shipping
Scottish shipbuilders
19th-century Scottish businesspeople