William Beardmore, later Lord Invernairn, built one of the greatest industrial empires in the world from the East End of Glasgow. From his vast Parkhead Forge and his shipyard at Dalmuir, his firm produced steel, warships, guns, tanks, aircraft and even airships, and at its height employed tens of thousands of Clydesiders.
From London to Parkhead
Born in London in 1856, Beardmore was brought to Glasgow as a small boy when his father became a partner in the Parkhead Forge, a steel works in the East End of the city that supplied the Clyde shipyards and the railways. Educated at the High School of Glasgow and the city’s technical college, he was apprenticed at Parkhead at fourteen, and on his father’s death took over the firm.
The Parkhead Forge
Beardmore turned the Parkhead Forge into a colossus of steel, armour plate and guns, one of the largest works in Scotland. It was here that the young David Kirkwood, the Red Clydeside leader, worked as a shop steward, and it was a wartime strike at Parkhead that led to his famous deportation from the city.
Ships, guns and the Clyde
In 1900 Beardmore bought the Govan shipyard of Robert Napier and built an enormous new Naval Construction Works at Dalmuir, one of the most modern shipyards in the world, employing some thirteen thousand people. His firm became a giant of Clyde shipbuilding and a major armaments maker, and in the First World War it poured out warships, submarines, tanks, guns and aircraft.
Cars, aircraft and an airship
After the war Beardmore diversified, often unprofitably, into motor cars and taxis, locomotives, aircraft and airships, building at Inchinnan the great airship R34, the first to fly the Atlantic and back. He had also funded Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition, which named a vast glacier in his honour. He was one of the men who made Glasgow the Second City of the Empire.
The slump
Created Baron Invernairn in 1921, Beardmore lived to see the post-war slump devastate his industries; his Dalmuir yard closed in 1930, an early casualty of the decline we describe in our post on why Glasgow’s shipbuilding declined. He died in 1936, and the Parkhead Forge itself finally closed in 1983, its site now a shopping centre.
Related questions
Who was William Beardmore?
A British industrialist, later Lord Invernairn, who built a great engineering and shipbuilding empire in Glasgow, centred on the Parkhead Forge.
What did Beardmore’s company make?
Steel and armour plate, warships and submarines, guns, tanks, aircraft, motor cars and even airships, including the R34 that first flew the Atlantic and back.
What was his connection to Glasgow?
He was brought to Glasgow as a child, educated there, and built his industrial empire in the city’s East End, at the Parkhead Forge, and at the Dalmuir shipyard.
Was William Beardmore born in Glasgow?
No. He was born in London, but he came to the city as a small boy and built his famous firm in the East End of Glasgow.