William Dawson Lawrence | |
|---|---|
 William D. Lawrence – Nova Scotia House of Assembly (1864) | |
| Born | 16 July 1817 |
| Died | 8 December 1886 (aged 69) |
| Resting place | Oak Island Cemetery, Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia |
| Occupation(s) | Shipbuilder, Businessman, Politician |
| Spouse | Mary Hayes |
| Parent(s) | William Dawson Lawrence and Mary Jane Lockhart |
William Dawson Lawrence (16 July 1817 – 8 December 1886) was a successful shipbuilder, businessman and politician. He built the William D. Lawrence, which is reported to be the largest wooden ship ever built in Canada.[1]
In 1874, W.D. Lawrence's great ship was reported to have been the largest wooden sailing ship in the world.[2] The William D. Lawrence represents the pinnacle of W.D.'s career as a marine architect, businessman, and politician. He built the ship in Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia. The vessel was 263 feet long.
The renowned historian Frederick William Wallace wrote,
- "It was a memorable event in Canadian ship-building annals when his big ship took the water, and had it been elsewhere but in a quiet little Nova Scotia town on the banks of the Shubenacadie River, there would have been a great furor, and Lawrence's genius and skill would have been proclaimed to the four corners of the earth."[3]
- ^ "William D. Lawrence" Maritime Museum of the Atlantic Frequently Asked Questions Archived 2013-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ This claim is made by Frederick Wallace (1924) in his book Wooden Ships and Iron Men and Canada's national magazine Macleans (1957). There were larger wooden ships built before 1874, but they were no longer in operation. At the time, there was also a larger vessel from New York which is discounted as a sailing ship because it was converted from a steamer.
- ^ Wooden Ships and Iron Men: The story of the square-rigged merchant marine of British North America, the ships, their builders and owners, and the men who sailed them, London : Hodder and Stoughton, 1924 (reprinted by White Lion (London) in 1973).