George Lennox Watson
Encyclopedia
George Lennox Watson was a Scottish
naval architect. He was born in Glasgow
, son of Thomas Lennox Watson, a doctor at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary
, and grandson of Sir Timothy Burstall, engineer and entrant at the 1829 Rainhill Trials
.
on the Firth of Clyde
, where through his friendship the local skipper William Mackie he developed his passion for yachts and resolved to make naval architecture his living. At the age of 16 Watson became an apprentice draughtsman at the shipyard of Robert Napier & Son
in Glasgow.
and the Allan Brothers
of the famous Scotch-Canadian shipping line.
Watson’s successes on the proving ground of the Clyde soon attracted larger commissions from more high profile clients such as the Vanderbilt family
, Earl of Dunraven
, Sir Thomas Lipton, the Rothschild family
, Charles Lindsay Orr-Ewing
, Whitaker Wright
and Wilhelm II, German Emperor. Commissioning amongst others, four America’s Cup challengers and the largest sailing schooner
of its time, Rainbow.
Amongst his work in yacht designs Watson designed extensively for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
(RNLI) with his boats becoming renowned for their seaworthiness and durable qualities. In 1887 Watson became chief consulting Naval Architect to the RNLI, a position which G.L. Watson & Co. Directors would fulfil through to the late 1960s.
Watson designed 432 yachts, lifeboats and other vessels during his 32-year career, an output which averages one new build launched every 3.5 weeks. Of those he designed the following are particularly noteworthy.
, and had a long and successful career passing to his son King George V
. HMY Britannia
remains the most successful racing yacht of all time, with a racing career spanning 43 years.
was long running and manifested itself in four cup challengers; the Thistle for the Scottish syndicate headed by Sir James Bell, two yachts named Valkyrie for Lord Dunraven, and Shamrock II for Sir Thomas Lipton.
Watson's yachts were met with a range of successes and competed in typically controversial Cup contests but never managed to win the trophy. Thistle was sold to Kaiser Willem of Germany; Valkyrie II was sunk in a collision with the cutter Satanita (Joseph M. Soper, 1893) on the Clyde. Both the large cutters, Valkyrie III & Shamrock II were broken up following their defeats.
Subsequently the firm passed through the hands of three further managing directors, before a brief hiatus in the early 1990s. The firm is now based in Liverpool
and is engaged in the design, restoration and replica builds of large yachts. The company still holds the original design archive which was temporarily housed in the Mitchell Library
in Glasgow.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
naval architect. He was born in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, son of Thomas Lennox Watson, a doctor at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary
Glasgow Royal Infirmary
The Glasgow Royal Infirmary is a large teaching hospital, operated by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde,. With a capacity of around 1000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around 20 acres, situated on the north-eastern edge of the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland.-History:Designed by Robert...
, and grandson of Sir Timothy Burstall, engineer and entrant at the 1829 Rainhill Trials
Rainhill Trials
The Rainhill Trials were an important competition in the early days of steam locomotive railways, run in October 1829 in Rainhill, Lancashire for the nearly completed Liverpool and Manchester Railway....
.
Early life
As a young boy in the late 1850s Watson often spent holidays at InverkipInverkip
Inverkip is a village and parish falling within the Inverclyde council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies about southwest of Greenock on the A78 trunk road...
on the Firth of Clyde
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...
, where through his friendship the local skipper William Mackie he developed his passion for yachts and resolved to make naval architecture his living. At the age of 16 Watson became an apprentice draughtsman at the shipyard of Robert Napier & Son
Robert Napier (engineer)
Robert Napier was a Scottish engineer, and is often called "The Father of Clyde Shipbuilding."-Early life:Robert Napier was born in Dumbarton at the height of the Industrial Revolution, to James and Jean Napier...
in Glasgow.
Career
During his training at Napier’s yard Watson was at the early stages of using theories of hydrodynamics as influences in yacht design. After practising at J&A Inglis, Shipbuilders, in 1873 (at the age of 22) Watson set out to found the world's first yacht design office dedicated to small craft. His first design, Peg Woffington featured an unorthodox reverse bow which undoubtedly drew attention to the young designer. Successes followed with yachts such as Vril and Verve which were built for a growing client base of wealthy Clyde industrialists. Notable examples include the Coats family of PaisleyPaisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
and the Allan Brothers
Hugh Allan
Sir Hugh Allan, KCMG was a Scottish-born Canadian shipping magnate, railway promoter, financier and capitalist...
of the famous Scotch-Canadian shipping line.
Watson’s successes on the proving ground of the Clyde soon attracted larger commissions from more high profile clients such as the Vanderbilt family
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...
, Earl of Dunraven
Windham Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl
Windham Thomas Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl KP PC , styled Viscount Adare between 1850 and 1871, was an Irish journalist, landowner, entrepreneur, sportsman and Conservative politician. He served as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies under Lord Salisbury from 1885 to...
, Sir Thomas Lipton, the Rothschild family
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
, Charles Lindsay Orr-Ewing
Charles Lindsay Orr-Ewing
Charles Lindsay Orr-Ewing was a Scottish Tory politician.The youngest son of Sir Archibald Orr-Ewing and Elizabeth Lindsay Reid, he was educated at Harrow School. After travel in the East, he was commissioned as a Captain in the 3rd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders...
, Whitaker Wright
Whitaker Wright
James Whitaker Wright was an exceptionally wealthy English mining company owner. He became infamous when he committed suicide at the Royal Courts of Justice in London immediately following his conviction for fraud....
and Wilhelm II, German Emperor. Commissioning amongst others, four America’s Cup challengers and the largest sailing schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
of its time, Rainbow.
Amongst his work in yacht designs Watson designed extensively for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
(RNLI) with his boats becoming renowned for their seaworthiness and durable qualities. In 1887 Watson became chief consulting Naval Architect to the RNLI, a position which G.L. Watson & Co. Directors would fulfil through to the late 1960s.
Watson designed 432 yachts, lifeboats and other vessels during his 32-year career, an output which averages one new build launched every 3.5 weeks. Of those he designed the following are particularly noteworthy.
Steam yachts
- Zara (1891)
- Foros (1891)
- Vanduara (1895)
- Maria (1896)
- Mayflower (1896)
- Nahma (1896)
- Margarita (1899)
- Lysistrata (1900)
- Triton (1902)
- Warrior (1904)
Sailing yachts
- Peg Woffington (1873)
- Vril (1876)
- Madge (1879)
- Vanduara (1880)
- Doris (1885)
- Thistle (1887)
- Dora (1891)
- Queen Mab (1892)
- Rona (1892)Rona (1892)Rona was designed by one of the world’s greatest yacht designers, George Lennox Watson. She was constructed in 1892 in Auckland, New Zealand, by master craftsman and designer Robert Logan , for Wellington merchant and benefactor Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull, whose collection of rare books was...
- Britannia (1893)
- Valkyrie II (1893)
- Valkyrie III (1895)
- Meteor II (1896)
- Rainbow (1898)
- Gleniffer (1899)
- Cariad (1900)
- Sybarita (1900)
- Shamrock II (1901)
Britannia
Watson's most famous design was commissioned by Edward Prince of Wales, subsequently King Edward VIIEdward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
, and had a long and successful career passing to his son King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
. HMY Britannia
HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht)
His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served him and his son, King George V, a long racing career.-Racing career:...
remains the most successful racing yacht of all time, with a racing career spanning 43 years.
The America's Cup
Watson's involvement in the America's CupAmerica's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
was long running and manifested itself in four cup challengers; the Thistle for the Scottish syndicate headed by Sir James Bell, two yachts named Valkyrie for Lord Dunraven, and Shamrock II for Sir Thomas Lipton.
- ThistleThistle (yacht)Thistle was the unsuccessful Scottish challenger of the seventh America's Cup in 1887 against American defender Volunteer.-Design:The cutter Thistle was designed by George Lennox Watson, with interiors by his brother Thomas Lennox Watson, and built at the D&W Henderson shipyard in Partick on the...
(1887) - Valkyrie II (1893)
- Valkyrie III (1895)
- Shamrock II (1901)
Watson's yachts were met with a range of successes and competed in typically controversial Cup contests but never managed to win the trophy. Thistle was sold to Kaiser Willem of Germany; Valkyrie II was sunk in a collision with the cutter Satanita (Joseph M. Soper, 1893) on the Clyde. Both the large cutters, Valkyrie III & Shamrock II were broken up following their defeats.
Personal life
In the early years of his adult life Watson was devoted his company as well as close friends and family. He had little time for courting and it was not until his later years that Watson courted and married Ms Lovibond of Putney, London. Their wedding was described as "a gathering of the most fashionable people in society". Only 18 months after their wedding, and shortly after the birth of his daughter, Ellen Marjorie (Madge). Watson succumbed to "Coronary Asthma" and died on November 12, 1904, aged 53.Legacy
As sole partner at the time of his death, Watson entrusted the company to the hands of his Chief Draughstman James Rennie Barnett, who went on to design the firm's largest and most famous luxury steam yachts for the social elite. Barnett also furthered Watson's lifeboat work successfully developing the world's first self righting lifeboat.Subsequently the firm passed through the hands of three further managing directors, before a brief hiatus in the early 1990s. The firm is now based in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and is engaged in the design, restoration and replica builds of large yachts. The company still holds the original design archive which was temporarily housed in the Mitchell Library
Mitchell Library
The Mitchell Library is a large public library and centre of the public library system of Glasgow, Scotland.-History:The library was established with a bequest from Stephen Mitchell, a wealthy tobacco manufacturer, whose company, Stephen Mitchell & Son, would become one of the constituent members...
in Glasgow.