FROM OFFICE BOY TO SHIP OWNER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3017, 10 January 1912, Page 4

FROM OFFICE BOY TO SHIP OWNER.

THE LATE MR EDWARD PEMBROKE. SHAW, SAVILL, AND ALBION CHAIRMAN. (Feoh Oun Own ConnEsroxDENT.) LONDON, November 18. A career of remarkable activity as shipbroker, shipowner, and legislator has been closed by the death erf Mr Edward Pembroke, at the ago of 81. Starting life a.s an office boy to Messrs W. S. Lindsay and Co. he rose to bo chairman of the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Jane and owner of a greater amount of steam tonnage than any other private interest hi 1/ondon, Further, Mr Pembroke was one of the oldest living members of l.loydo. lit) hud a striking personality, and gained a high reputation for integrity ami straightforwardness. , The story of tho late shipowner s career is not devoid of tho elements of romance, for after serving Messrs Lindsay in various capacities ho became a partner in the firm, .whose name was changed subsequently to Stringer, Pembroke, and Co. Eventually the present stylo of Galbraith, Pembroke, and Co. was adopted, and it. is in connection witli this business that Mr Pembroke is best known. Ho was connected with other shipping undertakings, however, being chairman of tho Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company and a director of the British Steamship Investment Trust. As an arbitrator in private commercial disputes Mr Pembroke's cervices were in considerable request, his long experience and judicial turn of mind fitting him pre-

eminently for such a post. -At the Chamber of Shipping not only did his counsels carry great weight, but ho devoted an amount of time to the service of his own particular community which was productive of very valuable results, and comparatively recently ho was made the recipient of a portrait of himself, to which the entire , chamber had subscribed. Through his business connections Mr Pembroke was brought into direct touch with the late W. E. Gladstone, and so impressed was that statesman with the shipowner’s abilities that he accepted from him many suggestions in connection with legislation of a commercial and financial nature. The intimacy was eo close, indeed, that for some time Mr Pembroke was a sort of informal counsel to the Administration on matters relating to the business side of the nation’s affairs, and for several years the framing of the Budget was influenced by his advice.