Mercantile life in Victorian times
William Schaw Lindsay, by Bill Lindsay
Here we have a biography produced with great heart by the subject's great-great-grandson William Stewart Lindsay – who believes, understandably, that his 19th century ancestor William Schaw Lindsay (1815-1877) should be better known in merchant shipping circles.
Drawing on extensive private journals now housed in the UK National Maritime Museum, the story takes us through Schaw Lindsay's nine years at sea, his creation of a successful company with a fleet of 22 ships, and his time as a politician and author.
Meetings with Queen Victoria, Napoleon III and Abraham Lincoln are charted, and there are candid pen-portraits of various UK prime ministers.
The hardback contains a family tree and lots of useful appendices – including a list of ships Schaw Lindsay owned and a thorough bibliography.
William Schaw Lindsay: Victorian Entrepreneur
By Bill Lindsay
Amberley Publishing, £25.00
ISBN: 978 13981 15255
Buy this book in the Nautilus Bookshop
While you're there, why not browse the rest of the titles in our unique maritime bookshop, which sells all the books reviewed on these pages.
Buy nowMore Books
Women who went from unsung to unstoppable
Seafaring Women Through History by Jo StanleyMaritime historian Dr Jo Stanley is back with a celebration of trailblazing female mariners – blending rich historical insight with contemporary perspectives to reflect on what it means to be a woman working at sea.
Titanic connections: the other ships on the scene
The Titanic Fleet: the ships involved in the Titanic disaster By Richard M. JonesRichard Jones has explored another aspect of the sinking – the stories of 30 other vessels that were connected in some way to the famous liner.
A different perspective on Titanic's sinking
Titanic’s Lifeboats: Disaster and Survival During the Liner’s Sinking By James W. BancroftFor the true collector, Titanic’s Lifeboats presents the harrowing stories of each of the lifeboats launched on that fateful evening, drawn from the testimonies of the survivors.
Female MN war veterans brought to the fore
Supposed Killed or Drowned by Enemy Action at Sea, by Nina BakerThe people whose lives Baker explores in Supposed Killed or Drowned by Enemy Action at Sea are not relatives of hers, but they are part of the Merchant Navy family. They are the Scottish women who served and died in the crews of MN vessels in the First and Second World Wars.