Sir James Laing (1823–1901) was a British shipbuilder and founder of James Laing & Sons in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Life

Deptford Yard marked on the 1857 map of Sunderland

Etal Manor Etal Northumberland - geograph

He was born at Deptford House in

Bishopwearmouth Bishopwearmouth () is a former village and parish which now constitutes the west side of Sunderland City Centre, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, merging with the settlement as it expanded outwards in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is ...

(later known as

) on 11 January 1823 the only son of Philip Laing and Anne Jobling. His father was also a shipbuilder, having founded Laings of Deptford Yard with his brother John Laing (both from

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

) in 1793. Deptford Yard was a satelitte facility linked to

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

but based in

. Their first ship the "Horta" had been built on the Harbour Sands near Sunderland. They then formed a shipbuilding yard on a bend on the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...

. In 1843 James Laing took over the business and renamed it "James Laing & Sons". The company had a strong connection to Duncan Dunbar & Co, building one ship per year for them from 1843 to 1863. Duncan Dunbar continued to build ships but switched builder to Pile, Hay & Co in Sunderland. Laing & Co is credited with the invention of the first

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...

around 1855. James was Chairman of the

Commission for 32 years from 1868 to 1900. Linked to this oil interest, which mainly obtained oil from

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, Laing was involved from a very early stage in the construction and control of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

and from around 1856 was a Director of the

Suez Canal Company Suez (, , , ) is a seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest city of the ...

. In this capacity in 1883 he represented British shipowners in lowering fees and duties at the canal. From 1879 he was Sheriff of Durham and was also Deputy Lieutenant of the county. In 1881 he stood unsuccessfully as Liberal candidate for

North Durham North Durham is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2024 by Luke Akehurst of th ...

, losing to Sir George Elliot the Conservative candidate. James was knighted by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in 1897. He died on 15 December 1901 at his residence

Etal Etal or et al may refer to: * ''Et al'', Latin phrase meaning "and others" * Etal, Northumberland Etal ( )not is a small village in the far north of the county of Northumberland, England, in the civil parish of Ford, Northumberland, Ford. It ...

Manor in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

. There was a lull in ship production from 1902 to 1909 following his death but the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

revitalised the company and it was the highest producer of warships in

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

: 18 ships totalling over 100,000 tons. The company records are held at the National Archive in Kew.

Ships built

* ''Agincourt'' (1844 ship) commissioned by Duncan Dunbar (1804–1862) as a prisoner transport ship * ''Sea Park'' (1845 ship) for Duncan Dunbar * ''Amity'' (1853 ship) the yard's first iron steamer * ''Dunbar'' (1853 ship) * '' Duncan Dunbar'' (1857 ship) a clipper, the yard's twelfth ship * ''Dunbar Castle'' (1864 ship) * ''City of Adelaide'' (1864) completed by Pile, Hay & Co. * ''Queen Wilhelmina'' (1898 ship) * ''Umtata'' (1898 ship) * ''Tomoana'' (1899 ship) Built by James Laing & Sons Ltd * '' War Rambler'' (1917), WWI A-class standard cargo ship * (1924), a steam tanker * (1939), a motor tanker * '' Empire Cavalier'' (1942), a motor tanker

Family

In 1847 he married Mary Tanner. *Philip Henry Laing (1849–1907) who took over the company *Mary Laing (b. 1850) Mary Tanner died soon after her death In 1855 Laing married Theresa Talbot Peacock (b. 1832) daughter of Thomas Peacock. They were married at St Andrew's church in

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

. Their children were: *George Laing (b. 1856) *Florence T Laing (b. 1860) twin *Thomas T Laing (b. 1860) twin *Maud Laing (b. 1863) *Sophia S Laing (b. 1865) *Margaret J Laing (b. 1868) *Eleanor S Laing (b. 1870) *Louisa H Laing (b. 1873) *Bryan Laing (b. 1876)

Artistic recognition

He was portrayed by

John Collier John Collier may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Collier (caricaturist) (1708–1786), English caricaturist and satirical poet *John Payne Collier (1789–1883), English Shakespearian critic and forger *John Collier (painter) (1850–1934) ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laing, James 1823 births 1901 deaths People from Sunderland Businesspeople from Tyne and Wear British shipbuilders