William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie
PC PC (Ire) | |
---|---|
Lord Lieutenant of Belfast | |
In office 1911–1924 | |
Preceded by | The Earl of Shaftesbury |
Succeeded by | Sir Thomas Dixon |
Personal details | |
Born | 31 May 1847 Quebec City, Canada East, Province of Canada |
Died | 7 June 1924 At sea off Cuba | (aged 77)
Nationality | British |
Spouse | Margaret Montgomery Pirrie (m. 1879-1924) |
Occupation | Shipbuilder, businessman |
William James Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie,
Background
Pirrie was born in
Career
Pirrie was educated at the
In 1907 Pirrie was appointed Comptroller of the Household to the
In February 1912, after chairing a famous meeting of the Ulster Liberal Association at which Winston Churchill defended the government's policy of Home Rule for Ireland, Pirrie was jeered on the streets of Belfast, and assaulted as he boarded a steamer in Larne: pelted with rotten eggs, herrings, and bags of flour.[6] In 1910, the Ulster Liberal Association, an overwhelmingly Protestant body, with a weekly newspaper, and branch network throughout Ulster, had adopted (in opposition to the Ulster Liberal Unionist Association) an explicitly pro-home rule position.[6]
Two months later, April 1912, he was to travel aboard RMS Titanic, but illness prevented him. During the war he was a member of the War Office Supply Board, and in 1918 became Comptroller-General of Merchant Shipbuilding, organising British production of merchant ships.
In 1921 Pirrie was elected to the Northern Ireland Senate, and that same year was created Viscount Pirrie, of the City of Belfast, in the honours for the opening of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in July 1921, for his war work and charity work.[7][8]
Personal life
Lord Pirrie married Margaret Montgomery Carlisle, daughter of John Carlisle, M.A., of Belfast, on 17 April 1879. In 1909 Lord Pirrie bought Witley Park, formerly the residence of Whitaker Wright. The letter P with a coronet above adorn metal gates and fence posts in the estate and previously owned lands.
Pirrie built the Temple of the Four Winds near the
Death
In March 1924 Pirrie, his wife, and her sister sailed on a Royal Mail Steam Packet Company liner from Southampton on a business trip to South America. They travelled overland from Buenos Aires to Chile, where they embarked aboard the Pacific Steam Navigation Company's Ebro. Pirrie caught pneumonia in Antofagasta, and his condition worsened when the ship reached Iquique. At Panama City two nurses embarked to care for him. By then he was very weak, but insisted on being brought on deck to see the canal. He admired how Ebro was handled through the locks.[11][12]
On 7 June Pirrie died at sea off Cuba.[13] His body was embalmed. On 13 June Ebro reached Pier 42 on the North River in New York, where Pirrie's friend Baron Inverforth and his wife met Viscountess Pirrie and her sister. UK ships in the port of New York lowered their flags to half-mast, and Pirrie's body was transferred to Pier 59, where it was embarked on White Star Line's RMS Olympic, one of the largest ships Pirrie ever built, to be repatriated to the UK.[11][12][14][15] He was buried in Belfast City Cemetery.[16] The barony and viscountcy died with him. Lady Pirrie died on 19 June 1935. A memorial to Pirrie in the grounds of Belfast City Hall was unveiled in 2006.
Arms
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References
- ^ "William James Pirrie, Viscount Pirrie". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Edinburgh. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Lord William James Pirrie
- ^ Whitaker's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companioage. J. Whitaker & Sons. 1923. p. 460.
- ^ "The Chamber of Shipping". The Times. No. 36066. London. 15 February 1900. p. 8.
- ^ "No. 27933". The London Gazette. 20 July 1906. p. 4973.
- ^ S2CID 148801140.
- ^ "No. 32387". The London Gazette. 12 July 1921. p. 5553.
- ^ "No. 32391". The London Gazette. 15 July 1921. p. 5637.
- ^ Heather Hills & Wooded Vales Walk
- ^ Underwater billiards and burning
- ^ a b "Lord Pirrie dies on ship bound here". The New York Times. 9 June 1924. p. 1. Retrieved 5 March 2024 – via Times Machine.
- ^ a b "Olympic carries Pirrie's body home". The New York Times. 14 June 1924. p. 11. Retrieved 5 March 2024 – via Times Machine.
- ^ The Irish Times, "Death of Lord Pirrie", 9 June 1924, p. 5.
- ^ "Bringing Pirrie's body". The New York Times. 10 June 1924. p. 21. Retrieved 5 March 2024 – via Times Machine.
- ^ The Irish Times, "The Late Lord Pirrie", 21 June 1924, p. 7.
- ^ The Irish Times, "The Late Lord Pirrie", 24 June 1924, p. 4.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage. 1921.
External links
- Biography of William Pirrie at Encyclopedia Titanica
- Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. p. – via Wikisource. . . Dublin: