William Beardmore, 1st Baron Invernairn, DL (16 October 1856 – 9 April 1936), known as Sir William Beardmore, Bt, between 1914 and 1921, was a British industrialist, founding the eponymous William Beardmore and Company.

Background and education

Beardmore was born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in the family home. His father, also William Beardmore, was a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

, working for the General Steam Navigation Company in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

. In 1861 his family moved to

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 ...

, where his father bought the Parkhead Forge, a steel mill and supplier to the thriving

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

and

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

industries on the Clyde in the east end of the city. He was educated at the High School of Glasgow and Ayr Academy. When he was fifteen, he began an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

at Parkhead, while taking night classes at Anderson's University. On completing his apprenticeship in 1877 he enrolled at the Royal School of Mines in South Kensington, London.

Business career

Beardmore's father died shortly afterwards and the retirement of the third business partner saw William's uncle Isaac become sole proprietor. William became a junior partner in 1879 and on his uncle's retirement seven years later he became the sole proprietor of the business. He rapidly expanded the business and formed it into the

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 ...

of William Beardmore & Company, of which he became chairman and

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, in 1902. In 1899, he bought the world-famous yard of Robert Napier and Sons at Govan, on the Clyde. In 1900 he became chairman of J. I. Thornycroft & Co, the torpedo boat builders. In 1902 he also became a shareholder and director of the armaments firm

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

and the motor manufacturers Arrol-Johnston. Over the years he diversified his business to include the production of

vehicle A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...

s, armaments, including shells and

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

airship An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...

s and motorcycles. The original forge business continued to produce a wide array of steel materials, including armour plate,

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

s, axles, railway equipment, boiler plate and

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

s. In 1900, he purchased land on the north bank of the Clyde at Dalmuir, adjacent to the famous yard of

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its heig ...

at Clydebank. This he developed into one of the largest and most modern shipyards in the world, but the post-war decline in shipbuilding saw this yard close in 1936. Amongst ships built by Beardmore were the SS ''Warilda'', later HMAT ''Warilda'', for the Adelaide Steamship Company, the dreadnought HMS ''Conqueror'', the

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

HMS ''Ramillies'', and the first through-deck

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

. Beardmore sponsored

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarcti ...

's 1907

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

expedition, and it named the Beardmore Glacier after him. He was a member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Iron and Steel Institute, and the Institution of Shipbuilders and Engineers in Scotland. He was also chairman of the Industrial Welfare Society. In 1918 he was awarded the Bessemer Gold Medal of the Iron and Steel Institute for his services to the industry. Beardmore was created a Baronet, of Flichity in the County of Inverness, in 1914 and raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

as Baron Invernairn, of Strathnairn in the County of Inverness, in the 1921 New Year Honours.

Personal life

Lord Invernairn died at his home in Strathnairn, Inverness-shire of heart failure on 9 April 1936, aged 79. The baronetcy and barony died with him.

Background and education

Business career

Personal life

References

Further reading