William Schaw Lindsay, Victorian Shipping Magnate with strong Liverpool Connections.

Like any other city in the 1830s, Liverpool was an inhospitable place for the unemployed. For a sixteen-year-old orphan boy, newly arrived from Glasgow and seeking work on a ship in the docks, it was daunting. The boy later described in his diaries that “No country lane is as dull as Lord Street in Liverpool, when all people who pass you, don’t know you, and care for you no more than the stones upon which they tread.” He lived rough for seven weeks amongst beggars and thieves until he finally found work in an oceangoing vessel as an apprentice. So began his life at sea which lasted nine years, working his way up to be a ship’s captain.

The epitome of a self-made man, William Schaw Lindsay (1815-1877) was born in Ayr. His father died when he was four and his mother died when he was ten. He was brought up by his Reverend uncle and his aunt. They provided him with a few years schooling in Ayr Academy. Not wanting to be a burden to them any longer he left Ayr aged fourteen to stay for a year or two with his siblings in Glasgow. He then ran away to sea with five pounds given to him by his uncle, which was promptly stolen, and he set off to Liverpool for a new life with only six shillings and six pence.

I knew nothing of his life until I discovered that Lindsay’s unpublished diaries were held in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. So began my six-year journey transcribing his papers. What I found amazed me. By the 1850’s he had moved to London and owned one of the largest shipping companies in Britain. He owned, or part-owned, twenty-two ships and was chartering 700 a year. His diaries were full of famous Victorians ranging from Queen Victoria to Abraham Lincoln, all of whom he’d met, and he had anecdotes on each of them.

Lindsay’s time at sea was full of hardships. He was trapped as an apprentice under the control of a ship’s mate who was a bully. He had several near-death experiences. He recalled that whilst in the West Indies, one morning, when he awoke, he found two of his shipmates dead in their hammocks. Sixteen of a crew of thirty-one had died within four weeks. The ship’s captain succumbed to the disease. As one of four apprentices on board the ship, he lost his best friend who was swept overboard and drowned. Later, as a ship’s mate, in a severe storm he broke a leg and several ribs. Later still, as a ship’s captain whilst transporting bullion, he was attacked by Arab marauders and their leader wounded him across the chest with a sabre. He drew his pistol and shot him.

He retired from the sea and following a few years living in Hartlepool, where he worked as an agent shipping coal from his employer’s colliery to ports in the South of England, he moved to London to set up his own ship brokerage firm.

Lindsay’s success was built on three main factors: Coal for steamers, providing and chartering ships for the Crimean War, and his choice of auxiliary steamers.

He had convinced the powers to be that the coal from Hartlepool was as efficient as Welsh coal (which was the favoured coal used in steamships). He successfully approached shipping companies and won their business. He stated that “From the Coal Merchants of London, I was obliged to turn my attention to the great consumers of steam coal, such as the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company, the West India Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, and to those mercantile houses who shipped steam coal to foreign ports.” He added that “I learnt from Mr. Allan that his Company [P&O] never bought coals at a price delivered on board at a port of shipment. That the only way they bought them, was at a price delivered at the port where they were consumed. He very kindly gave me a list of these stations and told me the price they were ready to pay for steam coals delivered at Southampton, Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria, Aden, Bombay, Singapore, Calcutta, and Hong Kong.”

Also in Lindsay’s favour was the fact that he had been at sea, and as a result ship captains turned to him. He mentions in his diaries that “The shipbrokers of London had all been brought up in Counting Houses. They knew nothing practically about a ship.”

He set up an agency partnership with Lamport and Holt in Liverpool and another firm in Sunderland. They assisted each other securing ships for cargoes. William Lamport (1815-1874) had previously worked at the House of Gibbs, Bright & Co. George Holt Jnr (1824-1896) was the son of George Holt, a cotton broker, and he had been an apprentice at the Brocklebank Shipping Line. They had recently set up in business together and the cooperation with Lindsay added an impetus they needed. He stated that of Lamport and Holt “my connection had proved the means of making them, from an unknown firm, to be, I should say, the largest shipping business in Liverpool. The red-headed boy has grown up to be a man. The little roomed office has become an establishment with some 17 or 18 experienced clerks, and four or five rooms afford now little enough space to carry on their business”.  Lindsay ensured that the partnerships all worked on the same principle “acting in all matters of trust, as if the property entrusted to you, were your own. To do to others as you would be done unto”.  

In Liverpool, he had also opened another partnership with Samuel and William Pearce, sons of the Vice Consul to the United States. They were to confine themselves exclusively to the chartering of United States vessels. Lindsay saw that the use of these ships was rapidly increasing. One year he shipped as broker no less than 105,000 tons of rails from the ports of the United Kingdom to the United States and said that he had gained full command of that trade.

Another reason for Lindsay’s success was his involvement in the Crimean War. Four of his ships were requisitioned by the Government as transport ships. They conveyed troops and cargo to the Crimea. He also had extensive connections with the French Government and assisted them with the charter of transport ships for them.  Lindsay had recently become an MP and he was incensed with the British Government’s incompetence running the war. There were numerous examples of cargo going missing or being delayed. Ships lay idle. He heavily criticised the Admiralty and the Government in the House of Commons and strove to improve organisation of the transport system.

A further factor for Lindsay’s success was his advocacy for auxiliary steamships. During his time at sea, he was frustrated by the lack of progress in calm weather. Sometimes ships were becalmed for weeks, and he was determined to solve the problem. The advent of steamships had commenced but steamship builders were focussing on fully powered steamers. Steam engines, however, were not that efficient and most of the ship was taken up with a supply of coal rather than for cargo or passengers. Lindsay chose a different method to solve the problem; a sailing ship with a small auxiliary engine powerful enough to escape the doldrums, or to be able to negotiate rivers or harbours. This was much less expensive than building fully powered steamers. For ten years or so this proved to be very successful, but in time more efficient engines, that used less coal, heralded the success of fully powered steamships.

His first large ship was built in N.E.England in 1852. Named the W S Lindsay she was the same size as the Cutty Sark which was built 17 years later. She started life as an oceangoing sailing ship but was converted to an auxiliary steamer. Lindsay said “As to the proportions of a sailing ship, it had been the custom, I may say from times immemorial, to build them of dimensions, so that the beam was nearer perfection according to the tastes of nautical men, that the keel or forerake should be 3½ times more than the breadth of the beam, that is, if the breadth of the ship was 30 feet, the length keel and forerake should be about 105 feet. Now it struck me that the length not merely tended to increase the stability, but it also increased the capacity and the speed. Accordingly, I resolved to build a ship of 28 feet beam and of 180 feet keel and forerake. This was a terrible stride for a sailing ship. It was, instead of 3½ times, close upon 6½ times her breadth in length. Of course, I was pronounced mad.” Other ship owners however soon followed his example.

As he ran a successful commercial business in shipping, he was invited by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to tour his new ship the SS Great Eastern which was nearing completion. Robert Stevenson, Brunel, and Lindsay thoroughly inspected the ship and Brunel asked Lindsay what he thought of it. “Well,” he replied, “she is the strongest and best built ship I ever saw, and she is really a marvellous piece of engineering”. “Oh,” Brunel said, rather testily and abruptly, “I did not want your opinion about her build. I should think I know rather more about how an iron ship should be put together than you do. How will she pay?”

“Ah,” Lindsay replied, “that is quite a different matter;” and, seeing that he did not care to answer Brunel’s question, Brunel repeated it, adding, “If she belonged to you in what trade would you place her? ” “Turn her into a show,” he said, with a laugh, “something attractive to the masses; for, if you insist on having my opinion about her commercial capabilities, it is only in that direction where you can look for profit. She will never pay as a ship. Send her to Brighton, dig out a hole in the beach and bed her stern in it, and if well set she would make a substantial pier and her deck a splendid promenade; her hold would make magnificent saltwater baths and her ‘tween’ decks a grand hotel, with restaurant, smoking and dancing saloons, and I know not what all. She would be a marvellous attraction for the cockneys, who would flock to her in thousands.” And, as he saw Brunel was far from pleased with his answer—no wonder—though given half in joke and half in earnest, Lindsay added,” As you would insist on having my opinion, I have given it to you candidly, for I really do not know any other trade, at present, in which she will be likely to pay so well.” Stephenson laughed but Brunel never forgave him.

As it happened Lindsay was right. The ship was too ahead of it’s time. Few harbours could accommodate her, and she was a commercial failure. She ended up in Liverpool as a floating billboard for Lewis’s Department Store and then was broken up. Her only success was laying the transatlantic cable. Although it may appear that Lindsay was disparaging about the ship, that was not the case.  Years later he I wrote “It may be that a hundred or fifty years hence, the maritime commerce of the world may have grown to an extent sufficient to justify, with reasonable prospects of profit, another ship of the dimensions of the ‘Great Eastern’”.

He built his second large ship on the Clyde, as an auxiliary steamer. Named the Robert Lowe she was described in the local newspaper as ‘The first auxiliary screw ship of large size ever built.’ Launched in 1854 she had been delivered late by the shipbuilders Scott & Co. Lindsay requested an apology from them, but they declined. He then took them to court for lost revenue and won £20,000. He knew of the Scott family during his time in Glasgow and he decided not to demand this amount from them on condition that an apology was forthcoming. It duly arrived. Had he proceeded with the claim Scott & Co would have folded and Scott Lithgow would not have existed.

To make matters worse the Government had requisitioned the Robert Lowe as a transport ship and an Admiralty surveyor had decided that the ship was top heavy as it had cabins on the top deck. They took an axe to the cabins. They realised their mistake, but it was too late, the damage was done. Lindsay was furious. He said that he had spent “more than two years under construction by Messrs Scott and Co at Greenock, and I had expended all my ingenuity and skill upon her. She was carrying out to the fullest extent my own principles of combining great capacity and speed with small tonnage.”

During his time at sea Lindsay had studied Navigation Law. He felt it needed reform as it was two hundred years out of date. He simplified it and then set about trying to harmonise it with other countries, particularly France and America. To that effect, he toured the Northern States of America speaking to Maritime Societies and Politicians about the cause. He visited the President Elect, Abraham Lincoln, at his home near Chicago, and members of the Senate in Washington including President Buchanan. He learnt of the impending Civil War and political aspects behind it. When the war broke out, he decided to support the South and it’s wish for independence. He felt that Southerners were more heavily taxed that the Northerners (Union States) and that they had less representation in the Senate. He abhorred slavery but felt that freeing two million slaves at once might cause them harm. His experience living rough on Liverpool Docks cautioned against it. The freed slaves might not be assured of food, shelter, and work. Rightly or wrongly, he preferred that there was a more gradual emancipation over time. He spoke up for the right of Southern Independence in Parliament and visited the French Emperor Napoleon III several times, initially to discuss Navigation Law, and discussed with him the objective of a joint French and British recognition of Independence for the South. The British Government chose to ignore Lindsay’s comments and insisted that any representation from the Emperor should go through the proper channels via the British Ambassador. Historians have said that Lindsay “became the leading Confederate spokesman” and “was almost like an unofficial Confederate representative at Napoleon’s court”.

An incident occurred which nearly invoked a war between Britain and the Union States. A British Ship, RMS Trent, was conveying two Confederate envoys, James Mason, and John Slidell, to Britain. The ship was boarded by a Union ship, the USS San Jacinto, and the two envoys were seized and taken to the Northern States and held in prison. The British were incensed and demanded that they be released. The diplomats had been taken from a British ship unlawfully. The Northerners soon relented and released the prisoners. Lindsay accommodated Slidell’s family in his home. He said “When Mrs Slidell and her young family, two daughters with a son, reached London without her husband, I could not do otherwise than offer to tender her any assistance she might require”. Lindsay became great friends with Mason who stayed many times in his home.

As a politician and merchant heavily involved in supporting the South, he decided to sell his Company to his partners Stringer and Pembroke. His partners needed to raise additional funds to buy Lindsay out and James Galbraith invested in the firm to become the leading partner. The new firm, still known as W S Lindsay & Co, was involved in blockade running, although Lindsay said that he took not part in it. He was however involved in assisting the Confederates in building a navy. Since it was an agricultural country it had to import industrial wares including machinery, clothing, and arms. The North on the other hand had an industrial base. Lindsay stated that “In February 1861, the Confederate States Navy could only muster 30 vessels. And of this total only 14 were seaworthy. Opposing them, the Union Navy had 90 vessels. The dedication of the confederates to the cause eventually raised this total to 101 ships, while the Union Navy grew to over 500.” He added “I could not see what could prevent the Southern people from being supplied with ships while the Federals continued to be supplied with arms.”

Lindsay said that “a Confederate agent, Commander Sinclair, arrived in Britain to build a ship. He approached Mason who in turn suggested he see me. £60,000 in bonds was required and I was able through my contacts to raise this amount. These bonds were the first cotton bonds used by the Confederacy.” Originally known as Laird “Hull 290” in Birkenhead and built by the John Laird & sons Yard, she was completed as the Barque steamer Enrica, with a lifting screw to serve as a steam clipper. She taken over by the Confederate government and completed as a commerce raider. Leaving Britain in July 1862 she then roamed the seas as the CSS Alabama until 1864. Her captain was Raphael Semmes who Lindsay had met before the war during his tour of the Northern States. Semmes often stayed in Lindsay’s home when he was in Britain. The ship was a thorn is the side of the Union; she burned 65 vessels, mostly merchant ships. Eventually she was cornered off the French coast and sunk by the USS Kearsarge. It is estimated that during her two years of cruising she cost the Union more than 6,000,000 dollars in ships lost.

Lindsay recommended the introduction of Cotton Bonds to raise funds for the Confederate States. The press stated that he bought £20,000 worth. He denied this, saying he had only bought £2,000. In his papers I discovered that he actually bought £4,000 worth but $65,000 in addition: approximately two and a half Million pounds in value at today’s prices. After the war he claimed this amount from the Union but of course they refused.

Of particular interest during the building of ships for the Confederate Navy, were the so called ‘Liverpool Rams’. Two ships were built by the Laird Brothers in 1863 following secret negotiations. Powerful, and heavily armed, their tour de force was a massive ram built on their bows. They were a real threat to the Union Navy.  The Union made it known that if they were released and passed to the Confederates then a state of war with Britain was likely. The British Government had no choice: the ships were impounded by British Customs and turned over to the Royal Navy.  Lindsay conveyed his thoughts to the editor of the Times newspaper in October 1863. He wrote “I nevertheless feel, in common, I believe, with many of my countrymen, that while we prohibit ships which are said to be for the South, and do not prohibit arms and men which are said to be, for the North, our policy is not just. In a word, if we do not adopt the same measure of justice to both parties engaged in this most deplorable war, our professions of an “impartial neutrality” are mere empty words, and our policy is very different from that which has made England what she is.”

A year before the Civil War ended Lindsay had a stroke. He gradually recovered but spent the remaining twelve years of his life wheelchair bound. He sold most of his remaining ships and invested in houses in his village and in a winter house in Bournemouth.  His stroke did not stop him writing however and as well as publishing novels, he focussed on his magnus opus a four volume ‘History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce’ which became a source of reference for many decades and is still referred to today.

Lindsay died at his Manor House in Shepperton in 1877 aged 61. Famous in his day, he is forgotten now. A book published in 1868 entitled “Clever boys of our time who became famous men” included him and stated the following “A poor friendless orphan, cabin boy, great shipowner, and member of parliament. . . Why, it seems a fable – it seems too improbable to be true; but it is true, nevertheless”. Famous men included in the book were Michael Faraday, Charles Dickens, Sir John Franklin, Benjamin Disraeli amongst others.

In writing his biography I had to choose the golden nuggets from his extensive papers. In doing so I have only scratched the surface of his exploits. I also had to choose how best to write about his life. I decided to be true to his writings and as a result approximately 80% of the book is in his own words and is written in the first person. The book was published in July 2023 by Amberley Publishing. https://www.amberley-books.com/william-schaw-lindsay.html