ROMANTIC RISE TO FORTUNE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14223, 20 November 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

ROMANTIC RISE TO FORTUNE.

DEATH OF CHAIRMAN OF THE U " .'■ CUNARD LINE. J IIJ -' '" :fif , BUSINESS GIANT | .' '."■'•:' ■•■•■■ ■ ■•■ '•■■■■.' ' i A notable figure m the business life of tti« s| country is removed in the person of Mr I William Watson, chairman of . the mi K W 1 Cunard Steamship Company, who -palsed!" 1 away recently at his residence at BromboS 1 ough, Cheshire. . U} JM .to the " man in the street" Mr. Watson: 51 was best known as the Cunard Company's M chairman. When the late Lord Inverclyd* '*) died about four/years ago his fellow-direc I tors elected Mr. Watson to the chairman, II ship, he having been a director since 1892 * f& He was deputy-chairman at the time, and P had been very closely associated with' Lord - Inverclyde in those negotiations with, ft,'' M Government which were a necessary pre],, W miliary to that forward policy on the part oS M the Cunard which was initiated with % P construction of the ' MaureUnia and Lusi tania. Those two great vessela seldom ft I parted or arrived without the presence 'of - Mr. Watson, whose genial face and bis '•■ cigar were always welcome to the"salooni & passengers, by many of whom he was ne? W sonally known. ' l M •■ Yet this typical Englishman— appear ance—was actually a native of South CarolP H Una. He came to England as a mere youth ' and served his apprenticeship in "a" cotton H office in Liverpool. , He suosequently start- i ed business in the States, and returning two years later to Liverpool, he founded the firm • of Watson and Co., cotton merchants, and he continued as the senior partner 'until' 1902. There was nothing sensational in his m rise to position. It was gradual, the Mlj simple triumph of a man who never missed, fi his opportunity. '' - • '"J For many years Mr. Watson vas a dire* S tor of the Royal Insurance Company, the 11 North and South Wales Bank, the t Standard. m Marine Insurance Company, and for a short m period he was a member of the Mersey g Docks and Harbour Board. ,He jo.ned tie board of the Cunard Company in 18112. was appointed deputy-chairman in ISO2, and succeeded the late Lord Inverclyde as chairman 1 in October, 1905. " ' I

As director of the North and South WaJei Bank, he was instrumental ia bringing to 4 ] satisfactory issue ; the '. amalgamation : with: 1 the London .City and Midland Bank, knowledge &ad influence being recognised by his appointment as chairman of the liver- ' pool committee. '■'" / ; : : ' A I Dignified in appearance and courteous in f his bearing, Mr. Watson made an admirable : "S chairman at the Cunard^ meetings. He war sometimes accused of being too cautious, anil 1 of framing too careful an estimate of the company's prospects. ' It was, | however,:;; typical of the man that he neither spoke nor acted rashly. His long business experience I had taught him the virtue of cautiousness. 1 At the same time, when he had resolved 1 , upon a policy he was firm and determined! in its execution: i I

Mr. Watson was, however, in himself a man of a somewhat retiring nature, and-; had fate decreed that fie should never bo , chairman of the Cunard Company he would doubtless have willingly acquiesced, but he would unquestionably have gone off quietly.? to some other sphere of activity. . -\ < j