William Arrol

Sir William Arrol (13 February 1839 – 20 February 1913) was a Scottish civil engineer, bridge builder, and Liberal Unionist Party politician.

Early life

The son of a spinner, Arrol was born in Houston, Renfrewshire, and started work in a cotton mill at only 9 years of age,{{cite web|url=https://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst3.html|title=Sir William Arrol|publisher=Scottish Gazetteer|access-date=7 February 2020}} prior to commencing training as a blacksmith by age 13, and going on to learn mechanics and hydraulics at night school.{{cite web|url=

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/abandoned-home-sir-william-arrol-142727798.html|title=Abandoned home of Sir William Arrol restored after being saved from demolition|newspaper=Glasgow Herald|access-date=17 January 2024}}

Career

In 1863 he joined a company of bridge manufacturers in Glasgow, but by 1872 he had established his own business, the Dalmarnock Iron Works, in the east end of the city. The business evolved to become Sir William Arrol & Co., a large international civil engineering business.

Projects undertaken by the business under his leadership included the replacement for the Tay Bridge (completed in 1887), the Forth Bridge (completed in 1890) and Tower Bridge (completed in 1894). He was also contracted by the Harland and Wolff Shipyard, Belfast, to construct a large gantry (known as the Arrol Gantry) for the construction of three new super-liners, one of which was the RMS Titanic.{{cite web|url=http://test.nmni.com/Design-Build/Drawing-Office-to-Slipway/The-giant-Arrol-Gantry.html|title=The giant Arrol Gantry|publisher=National Museums Northern Ireland|access-date=16 October 2019}}

Arrol was knighted in 1890, and elected as the Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) for South Ayrshire at the 1895 general election, serving the constituency until 1906.{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/sir-william-arrol/index.html|title=Sir William Arrol|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=7 February 2020}} He served as President of The Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland from 1895–97. He spent the latter years of his life on his estate at Seafield House, near Ayr,{{cite web|url=https://historic-hospitals.com/gazetteer/ayrshire/|title=Seafield Children's Hospital|date=26 April 2015 |publisher=Historic Hospitals|access-date=7 February 2020}} where he died on 20 February 1913. He is buried in Woodside Cemetery, Paisley, on the north side of the main east-west path on the crest of the hill.{{cite web|url=https://paisleycemetery.co.uk/heritage-trail/|title=Heritage Trail|publisher=Paisley Cemetery|access-date=7 February 2020}}

Legacy

In 2013 he was one of four inductees to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=http://www.engineeringhalloffame.org/profile-arrol.html|title=Sir William Arrol (1839–1913)|publisher=Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame|access-date=16 October 2019}} His image is also featured on the Clydesdale Bank £5 note introduced in 2015.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-32000610|title=Clydesdale Bank brings in plastic £5 notes|date=23 March 2015 |publisher=BBC News|access-date=18 June 2016}}

References

External links

[https://sirwilliamarrol.wordpress.com/ Sir William Arrol]: History and legacy of the pioneering Scottish Engineer.
{{hansard-contribs | sir-william-arrol | William Arrol }}

{{succession box

| title = Member of Parliament for South Ayrshire

| years = 1895 – 1906

| before = Eugene Wason

| after = Sir William Phipson Beale

}}

Category:1839 births

Category:1913 deaths

Category:People from Renfrewshire

Category:Bridgeton–Calton–Dalmarnock

Category:Knights Bachelor

Category:Presidents of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland