George Lennox Watson (30 October 1851 – 12 November 1904) was a Scottish

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

. Born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, 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.

Early life

As a young boy in the late 1850s Watson often spent holidays at

Inverkip Inverkip (; ) is a village and parish in the Inverclyde council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland, southwest of Greenock and north of Largs on the A78 trunk road. The village takes its name from ...

on the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

, 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 and Sons in Glasgow.

Career

During his training at Napier's yard Watson was at the early stages of using theories of

hydrodynamics In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in ...

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 Paisley and the Allan Brothers of the famous Scots-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 The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanth ...

, Earl of Dunraven, Sir Thomas Lipton, the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...

, Charles Lindsay Orr-Ewing,

Whitaker Wright James Whitaker Wright (9 February 1846 – 26 January 1904) was a company promoter and swindler, who committed suicide at the Royal Courts of Justice in London immediately following his conviction for fraud. Early life The eldest of five child ...

and

Wilhelm II, German Emperor Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...

. Commissioning amongst others, four America's Cup challengers and the largest sailing

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

of its time, ''Rainbow''. Amongst his work in yacht designs Watson designed extensively for the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on s ...

(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) *'' Hermione'' (1891) *''Vanduara'' (1895) *''Maria'' (1896) *''Mayflower'' (1896) *''Nahma'' (1896) *Varuna (1897) *''Latharna'' (1897) *''Margarita'' (1899) *''Lysistrata'' (1900) *''Triton'' (1902) *''Warrior'' (1904)

Sailing yachts

*''Peg Woffington'' (8-ton cutter, 1871) *''Vril'' (5-tonner, 1876) *''Madge'' (10-tonner, 1879) *''Vanduara'' (90-ton first class cutter, 1880) *''Iris'' (5 ton cutter, 1883) *''Leila'' (5 ton cutter, 1883) *''Doris'' (5-tonner, 1885) *''

Thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...

'' (First class rater, 1887) *''Samovar'' (3 ton cutter, 1887) *''Tessa'' (7 ton cutter, 1890) *''Dora'' (10-rater, 1891) *''Elfin' (7 ton Lugger, 1891) *''Queen Mab III'' (40-rater, 1892) *'' Rona'' (5-rater, 1892) *''

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

'' (first class rater, 1893) *'' Valkyrie II'' (SCYC 85-footer, 1893) *'' Valkyrie III'' (SCYC 90-footer, 1895) *''Meteor II'' (first class linear cutter, 1896) *''Rainbow'' (A-class schoner, 1898) *''Gleniffer'' (A-class schooner, 1899) *''Kariad'' (first class linear cutter, 1900) *''Sybarita'' (first class linear yawl, 1900) *''Shamrock II'' (SCYC 90-footer, 1901)

Britannia

Watson's most famous design was commissioned and raced by

Albert Edward, Prince of Wales Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

. Built in 1893, she and had a long and successful career passing to his son

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

. HMY ''Britannia'' 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 Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

was long running and manifested itself in four cup challengers; the ''

'' for the Scottish syndicate headed by Sir James Bell, two yachts named ''Valkyrie'' for Lord Dunraven, and ''Shamrock II'' for Sir Thomas Lipton. *''

'' (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 to 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 12 November 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.Barnett, J. R., Modern motor-Lifeboats of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, 1st Edition, Blackie, Glasgow, 1933 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 is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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 The Mitchell Library is a large public library located in the Charing Cross area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the largest public reference library in Europe, and the centre of Glasgow's public library system. History The library was initiall ...

in Glasgow.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

G.L. Watson & Co. Ltd.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, George Lennox 1851 births 1904 deaths America's Cup yacht designers British yacht designers British naval architects Engineers from Glasgow Scottish architects Scottish company founders 19th-century Scottish businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople