OL Spotlight - Bill Lindsay (1971)
OL Spotlight - Bill Lindsay (1971)
Monday 17th July 2023
For this OL Spotlight we're delighted to feature Bill Lindsay (1971), whose debut book 'William Schaw Lindsay: Victorian Entrepreneur' was released on 15th July.Q1. What led you to write
this book?"When conducting my family tree I was amazed to discover that my great-great-grandfather owned one of the largest shipping companies in Britain in the 1850's. I also learnt that his twenty lenghty journals were housed in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. It took me six years to transcribe them. The book is the result."Q2. What is it about maritime
history that particularly
interests you?"Victorian Merchant Shipping. It was a time of conversion from sail to steam. Many events ocurred in those days: the army and supplies being sent by transport ship to the Crimean War, emigration to Australia and Canada especially following their gold rushes, and blockade runners evading the Union Navy during the American Civil War."Q3. What's next for you?"I have joined several committees on Maritime History Societies and have been assisting them with their Business and Marketing Plans. My next book will focus on Transport Ships during the Crimean War."Bills's time at Loretto:"At Loretto I was
fascinated by the
journals in the library
especially about the
Second World War.
History fascinated me.My father worked for I.C.I.
and was posted abroad to Jamaica and then Mexico. I remember visiting the Mexican pyramids in the 1960's in their early days of excavation: as a result I studied Ancient History at school."To find out more about Bill's work or order a copy of his book, head to billlindsayhistorian.com.