Sir Alfred Fernandez Yarrow, 1st Baronet, (13 January 1842 – 24 January 1932) was a British shipbuilder who started a

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to bef ...

dynasty, Yarrow Shipbuilders.

Origins

Yarrow was born of humble origins in

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

London, the son of Esther (Lindo) and Edgar William Yarrow. His mother was of Spanish

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

background and his father was from an English Christian family; Yarrow was raised a Christian. He was educated at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...

Shipbuilding

After serving an apprenticeship in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appli ...

, he opened a yard – Yarrow and Hedley (a partnership) – at Folly Wall, Poplar on the

Isle of Dogs The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Ha ...

in 1865 to build steam river launches. Yarrow's stern wheel steamers, designed with a shallow draft suitable for river navigation, were used in the early stages of the 1884

Nile Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–85), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to the Sudan to help Egyptians evacuate from Sudan ...

. Yarrow ventured into military vessels from the early 1870s, building

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s for the

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

navies, among other customers. Then in 1892 he built the first two

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

s for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

: ''Havock'' and ''Hornet'' of the ''Havock'' class. He struck up a strong friendship and correspondence with Lord Fisher ("Jackie Fisher"), and subsequently Yarrow Shipbuilders became a lead contractor for the Royal Navy for smaller, but almost always fast, boats. By this time, the Hedley partnership had been dissolved (1875), and the company was known as

Yarrow & Co ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

, and around 1898 moved out of Folly

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...

to the nearby

London Yard London Yard was a shipyard in London, in use between around 1856 and 1908 by various shipbuilding companies, including Westwood, Baillie and Yarrow Shipbuilders. Location The site is on the north bank of the Thames immediately to the south of t ...

. It was to be a short-lived move, for less than 10 years later (1906–1908) Yarrow gradually moving his yard northwards to

Scotstoun Scotstoun ( gd, Baile an Sgotaich) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Cl ...

on the banks of the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

on the west coast of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, closing the London shipyard in 1908. An operation in

Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esqui ...

, Canada, was purchased in 1913, renamed Yarrows Ltd., and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

sold to

Burrard Dry Dock Burrard Dry Dock Ltd. was a Canadian shipbuilding company headquartered in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Together with the neighbouring North Van Ship Repair yard and the Yarrows Ltd. yard in Esquimalt, which were eventually absorbed, Bu ...

. Yarrow's strong naval engineering capabilities and inventive mind were behind a number of inventions designed to drive ships ever faster, and in 1912 he was appointed to the Royal Commission on Fuel and Engines. Long after he died, the shipyard remained famous throughout navies of the world for building smaller fast vessels.

Personal life

He lived in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, London for some years, occupying

Woodlands House Woodlands House is a Grade II* listed Georgian villa, next door to Mycenae House, Mycenae Road, in the Westcombe Park area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. From 1972 to 2003 the building served as a library and art museum, known as the Wood ...

in Mycenae Road,

Westcombe Park Westcombe Park is a largely residential area in Blackheath in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London, England. It is bounded by the main London-Dartford railway line to the north, the Blackwall Tunnel southern approach to the east, ...

for some years from 1896. In 1899, Yarrow encouraged a young engineer who lived nearby in Greenwich, Alexander Duckham, to specialise in lubricants, leading to the establishment of the Duckhams oil company. Created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

in 1916, Sir Alfred displayed extensive philanthropic tendencies throughout his later years, donating towards: a convalescent home on the Isle of Dogs for the benefit of children; residences for soldiers' widows in

Hampstead Garden Suburb Hampstead Garden Suburb is an elevated suburb of London, north of Hampstead, west of Highgate and east of Golders Green. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations. It is an example of early twentie ...

(the Barnett Homestead, Erskine Hill); a school, the Royal Merchant Navy College, in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

; a home and hospital for children in

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 o ...

, Kent; a scholarship at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

; a gallery at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire, England. The school has been governed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City ...

in Northamptonshire; and medical research at the Royal London Hospital,

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

, among other noble causes. He also left a bequest to the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

. His first wife, married in 1875, was Minnie Florence Franklin, daughter of Theodosia (née Balderson; daughter of Major G. R. Balderson) and Frank Franklin. Frank's family were Jewish emigrants from Germany. Yarrow's daughter Minnie Ethel Yarrow was invested as an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE); she married on 18 December 1900 Dr Bertrand Dawson physician to King George V. The actor

Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...

is their great-grandson. Yarrow married his second wife Eleanor Cecilia Barnes on 2 December 1922.Sir Alfred Fernandez Yarrow, 1st Baronet
Geni. He was succeeded by his son

Harold Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts ...

(1884–1962). His younger son, 2/Lt Eric Fernandez Yarrow (born 5 January 1895), was killed in action, aged 20, on 8 May 1915, whilst serving with the

Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

. In 1918, he donated an Art Gallery to

in Eric's memory which is known as the Yarrow Gallery. Son Norman Alfred Yarrow (10 July 1891-d. 1956) ran Yarrows shipyards in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. Yarrow had two other daughters, Florence Yarrow (d. 8 March 1948) and Evelyn Yarrow (d. 13 January 1963). He died on 24 January 1932 and is buried in

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

Gallery

Woodlands House - Cassier's 1897-11.png, This photo of Woodlands House appeared in the November 1897 edition of ''

Cassier's Magazine ''Cassier's Magazine: An Engineering Monthly'' was an engineering magazine, published by the Cassier Magazine Company from 1891 to 1913. History The magazine was established by Louis Cassier (1862–1906) in 1891. He was the editor until his deat ...

'' as part of an article about Alfred Yarrow. Eric Yarrow.jpg, Eric Yarrow, son of Sir Alfred Yarrow Grave of Sir Alfred Yarrow in Highgate Cemetery.jpg, Grave of Sir Alfred Yarrow in

(west) Eleanor Lady Yarrow.jpg, Eleanor Lady Yarrow, née Eleanor Cecilia Barnes, 2nd wife of Sir Alfred Yarrow

Origins

Shipbuilding

Personal life

See also

Gallery

Arms

References

Further reading