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 A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

ever built in Canada. In 1874, W.D. Lawrence's great ship was reported to have been the largest wooden sailing ship in the world. 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 Maitland, East Hants, Nova Scotia (originally known as Jean Peter's Village) is a village in East Hants, Nova Scotia. It is home to the historic Lawrence House Museum, which is part of the Nova Scotia Museum. The community was part of the Douglas ...

. 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 The Shubenacadie River is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a meander length of approximately 72 km from its source at Shubenacadie Grand Lake to its mouth at the historic seaport village of Maitland on Cobequid Bay, site of the buildi ...

, there would have been a great furor, and Lawrence's genius and skill would have been proclaimed to the four corners of the earth."

Ship builder

Lawrence began his ship building career at the John Chappell shipyard in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where he designed his first ship (1849). He also worked at the Alexander Lyle shipyard in Dartmouth. Lawrence also had the opportunity to study in Boston under the great Nova Scotian ship builder

Donald McKay Donald McKay (September 4, 1810 – September 20, 1880) was a Canadian-born American designer and builder of sailing ships, famed for his record-setting clippers. Early life He was born in Jordan Falls, Shelburne County, on Nova Scotia's ...

. He returned to Nova Scotia and built two vessels close to his childhood home in Maple Grove, Nova Scotia. Then Lawrence built six more vessels in the

William D. Lawrence Shipyard The William D. Lawrence Shipyard built vessels from 1859 until 1903 in Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia, Maitland, Nova Scotia. It is most renowned for building the William D. Lawrence (ship), ''William D. Lawrence'' in 1874, reported to be th ...

opposite his home in

. Lawrence was very successful in business. The three-year maiden voyage of the William D. Lawrence involved Lawrence being towed from Maitland to

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of K ...

. Upon the ship being fitted, Lawrence then traveled to

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

; Aden, British India (present day

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

);

Callao, Peru Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists of the whole C ...

;

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

;

St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

, and then returned home. During his voyage he recorded the life of sailors at sea and in port. While at sea, Lawrence records events such as catching a shark. In terms of a sailors life in port, he recorded a significant amount of their lives being intimately linked with sex trade workers. Lawrence makes significant observations about the plight of women around the world. Lawrence built eight vessels which were very profitable for him. The two last vessels he built, the Pegusus (1867) and the William D. Lawrence (1874) were the most profitable. From the first four years at sea, W.D. earned from the ''Pegusus'' a profit of $1.4 million.The dollar amounts in this article have been converted to reflect inflation. The Statistics Canada Currency Converter was used to establish the conversion. From the first three years at sea, W.D. earned from the ''William D. Lawrence'' a profit of $1 million. After profiting from the vessel for five more years, W.D. sold the William D. Lawrence for $2.4 million. (big profit)

Politician

William D. Lawrence was elected to the

23rd General Assembly of Nova Scotia Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

in 1863. He represented

Hants County, Nova Scotia Hants County is an historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the West Hants Regional Municipality, and the Municipality of the District of East Hants. History Formation The county of Hants ...

– North. He was elected on a platform that gave the right for every Nova Scotian to vote, not just property owners. Lawrence was also a great supporter of public education and saw it as a foundation for a healthy democracy. He joined

Joseph Howe Joseph Howe (December 13, 1804 – June 1, 1873) was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, public servant, and poet. Howe is often ranked as one of Nova Scotia's most admired politicians and his considerable skills as a journalist and writer ha ...

and the

Anti-Confederation Party ''Anti-Confederation'' was the name used in what is now the Maritimes by several parties opposed to Canadian Confederation. The Anti-Confederation parties were accordingly opposed by the Confederation Party, that is, the Conservative and Liberal ...

in fighting

Charles Tupper Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, (July 2, 1821 – October 30, 1915) was a Canadian Father of Confederation who served as the sixth prime minister of Canada from May 1 to July 8, 1896. As the premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led ...

's campaign to have Nova Scotia join Confederation. While confederation was passed on July 1, 1867, Lawrence, along with most other "Anti-Confederate" campaigners, was successful in the election of September 1867 in defeating the pro-Confederates. Joseph Howe also won his election as the federal representative for Hants County. Eventually, Joseph Howe left the Anti-Confederation campaign and ran successfully in a bi-election in Hants (1869). The following provincial election, Lawrence continued to support the Anti-Confederation campaign and lost the election (1871). Lawrence retired for seven years from politics to build the William D. Lawrence. He tried again to run for the nomination of the liberal party but was defeated (1878).

Writer

Along with writing about the maiden voyage of the William D. Lawrence, he also published articles in the provincial papers on the opposition he experienced in building the ship, capitalism and labour, and his trips to

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in the winter months. In Lawrence's unpublished manuscript he also writes extensively about prostitution; differences among races of people; the supremacy of Christianity; the triumph of democracy over tyranny; and the success of capitalism. Lawrence's ideas about prostitution were largely influenced by Dr.

William Sanger William Sanger (November 12, 1873 – July 23, 1961) was a German-born and American-educated architect and artist. He was the husband of Margaret Sanger. Early life and education Born in Berlin, Germany, Sanger came from a devoutly Jewish ...

, one of the foremost researchers on prostitution during the Victorian Age. Lawrence's travel writings noted that he visited his birthplace of

Lawrencetown, County Down Laurencetown or Lawrencetown is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits on the River Bann, along the main road between the towns of Banbridge and Portadown. It is within the parish of Tullylish and covers the townlands of Knock ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and that he heard a sermon given by the famous

Charles Haddon Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He wa ...

. He also wrote about being mortified by a bullfight that he saw in

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and enjoying the Masquerade ball he attended while in Paris. Lawrence died in

, at the age of 69.

Commemorations

In 1930, William D. Lawrence and his great ship were commemorated by the

Bank of Nova Scotia The Bank of Nova Scotia (french: link=no, Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse), operating as Scotiabank (french: link=no, Banque Scotia), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada ...

, which placed a stone carving of the ship above the door of the head office building in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

(located on Hollis Street, directly across from

Province House (Nova Scotia) Province House ( gd, Taigh na Roinne) in Halifax is where the Nova Scotia legislative assembly, known officially as the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, has met every year since 1819, making it the longest serving legislative building in Canada. T ...

). A monument dedicated to Lawrence's ship as a national historic treasure was erected on the grounds of his home (1967) and his home became a provincial museum site opening to the public on August 11, 1971. The ship has also been commemorated by the

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

with a postage stamp (1975) and the

Royal Canadian Mint }) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufacture ...

with a coin (2002). There are numerous ship portraits of the vessel. One portrait by E. Petit hangs in

Government House (Nova Scotia) Government House of Nova Scotia is the official residence of the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, as well as that in Halifax of the Canadian monarch. It stands in the provincial capital at 1451 Barrington Street; unlike other provincial Govern ...

. The most famous portrait is by Edouard-Marie Adam and belongs to the

Musée national de la Marine The Musée national de la Marine (National Navy Museum) is a maritime museum located in the Palais de Chaillot, Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It has annexes at Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort ( Musée National de la Marine de ...

, Paris, France.

References

William Dawson Lawrence - Canadian Biography On Line
*Archibald MacMechan. The Great Ship. ''Dalhousie Review''. 1928. *Joseph Schull William Larence and his wonderful windjammer.

MacLean's Magazine ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

. 28 September 1956. *Joseph Schull. The Salt Water Men: Great Stories of Canada. 1956. *David Stevens. ''W. D. Lawrence: The Man and the Ship''. Lancelot Press. 1975.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, William Dawson Canadian shipbuilders Boat and ship designers People from Hants County, Nova Scotia Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Nova Scotia Anti-Confederation Party MLAs 1817 births 1886 deaths Tourist attractions in Hants County, Nova Scotia Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Nova Scotia