At their  last meeting, Kingswear Historians were enthralled to hear a talk by Bill Lindsay.

Since retiring, Bill has carried out an extensive programme of research into maritime matters.

He has focussed on researching Victorian merchant shipping concentrating on the shipping company owned by his great, great, grandfather, William Schaw Lindsay.

A rags to riches story William came from a poor background in Glasgow but ended up owning one of the most successful shipping companies in the world at the same time as becoming a Whig MP.

Initially, William Schaw Lindsay had stood as an MP for Dartmouth but he was unsuccessful because he was up against powerful local families. 

Despite this failure, he used the Dart as a departure point for the New World and employed agents and provisioned ships in the port, bringing in considerable trade and wealth to the area.

Amazingly, despite the time difference of over 150 years there were still people in the audience who had personal connections to Lindsey and his shipping line.

This made the after-talk discussion lively and relevant.

Tessa Gibson, Archivist for the KW Historians had ancestors who had sailed as crew on Lindsay’s ships. Jonathan Turner now lives in a house in Dartmouth once owned by Lindsay’s agent Jon Bulley and Sue Pudduck’s great grandmother had emigrated to British Columbia on the SS Tynemouth. 

In 1862 The Dartmouth Chronicle advertised berths to the New World enticing local people to join the gold rush. There are probably other local families who took this opportunity.

Bill’s book, William Schaw Lindsay, Victorian Entrepreneur is an excellent read for those wishing to know more of Dartmouth’s maritime history and his  considerable depth of knowledge made the lecture interesting and relevant.