In 1830 the establishment of mail steam communication between Britain and North America was projected by Mr. Samuel Cunard, of Halifax, N.S., who, in prosecution of his undertaking, was introduced to Mr. Robert Napier by Mr. Melvill, secretary in London to the East India Company, and through whom he entered into conferences on the subject in Glasgow with Mr. George Burns and Mr. David MacIver. The consultation resulted in the undertaking since popularly known as the Cunard line, and Mr. George Burns persuaded his brother to join in this, as he had in like manner previously induced him to join in the establishment of steamers between Glasgow and Liverpool. The contract for the conveyance of the North American mails was entered into between the Admiralty on the one part, and Samuel Cunard, George Burns, and David MacIver on the other part; and the first steamer of the line, the Britannia, sailed from Liverpool on 4th July, 1840, for Halifax and Boston. The means of travelling between the mother country and America were previously very inadequate. Although steam had come into pretty general use for coasting purposes, it had been little applied to ocean voyages. The Cunard line commenced with four paddle-wheel steamers, of an aggregate tonnage of 4602 tons. Now the company possess between 40 and 50 vessels afloat, or in course of construction. Many of these are the most magnificent merchant ships afloat. Some of them are over 4000 tons burden, and the aggregate tonnage of the whole is close upon 90,000 tons.
It is not too much to affirm of the Cunard line, that it is the most popular and successful Transatlantic service afloat. For upwards of thirty years a Cunard Transatlantic steamer has sailed—at first once a week, subsequently twice a week, and latterly three times a week—from Liverpool, and another from New York or Boston. During that long period many hundred thousand passengers have been carried by that noble fleet. Yet, despite the dangers of the Atlantic, and the liability to accident in a thousand ways of such a voyage, the Cunard line can thankfully say that they have never lost a life—nay more, although they have had a contract with the British Government since they started for the conveyance of the North American mails, the company have never even lost a letter! Such a claim cannot be made on behalf of any other line afloat. But it would be quite a mistake to infer that this wonderful exemption from misadventure is due to luck or chance. On the contrary, the skilful management of the line has been the chief, if not the sole cause of its matchless reputation. Every consideration of profit has from the very outset been subordinated to a painstaking and anxious regard for the efficiency of the fleet, and for the safety and comfort of the passengers. Without a single exception, all the Cunard Liners are noted for their seaworthy qualities, which have been admirably preserved by the existence of the company's engineering works at Liverpool; and the instructions for the navigation of the fleet are most complete and peremptory. Thus, it will be seen that a combination of rare administrative qualities, together with the intrinsic superiority of their ships, have been the means of realising for the Cunard Company a character which is altogether without a precedent, while the same causes have imparted to the most timid passengers a confidence in the Cunard line which they would not be justified in placing even in a railway company. In short, the Cunard Company have brought about a condition of things which our grandfathers could not have believed possible. They have set at naught the dangers of the mighty deep, and rendered ocean travelling more safe and interesting than travelling on the dry land. Truly, those who have had the management of this gigantic business are entitled to be regarded as the pioneers of a high standard of progress, the highest standard, indeed, that has yet been attained, or is possible of attainment, in the direction of one of the greatest ends of civilisation—that of making the navigation of the ocean compatible with perfect safety to human life. In illustration of the style of management, it may be added that it has been the policy of those conducting the business to keep abreast with the advancement of the age, by constantly selling and replacing vessels as required. From first to last they have sold considerably above 100 steamers.
The business of the Cunard Company, in its various branches, has from its origin been carried on in Glasgow by Messrs. G. & J. Burns; in Liverpool, by the energetic firm of Messrs. D. & C. MacIver; in Halifax, N.S., by Messrs. S. Cunard & Co.; and in New York, by Sir Edward Cunard, Bart. Mr. David MacIver died a few years after the formation of the Cunard line, Sir Samuel Cunard, Bart., and his son Sir Edward, died more recently; and James Burns and George Burns having retired several years before the death of the former, which took place in September last, the business devolved upon the two sons of George Burns—John Burns and James Cleland Burns, of Glasgow; Charles MacIver, of Liverpool; and William Cunard, formerly of Halifax, N.S., now of London, who remain the sole partners of this gigantic concern, which is still further extending its ramifications by the addition of a line of steamers between the Clyde and the West Indies.
The subject of our memoir married, in 1822, the eldest daughter of the late Dr. Cleland of Glasgow, a man who may be said to have been the father of social and vital statistics in this country; for at the time he published his works, "Annals of Glasgow," and "Statistical Tables," we believe that Sweden was the only country that laid claim to the possession of regular statistics. Dr. Cleland was a member of the Institute of France, and other scientific bodies. By his wife, who is still alive, Mr. Burns has had seven children, of whom there only survive the two sons who are now at the head of the business in Glasgow. Mr. George Burns, soon after his retirement from business, purchased the estate of Wemyss Bay, where he now spends the greater part of his time. Mr. John Burns is possessor of the property of Castle Wemyss, where he resides; and Mr. James Cleland Burns lives at his property of Glenlee, near Hamilton.
Neither Mr. Burns, nor any of his family, have ever taken a prominent part in politics, although their immense business experience and conspicuous aptitude for controlling and directing their own unrivalled private concern, would in all probability have qualified them for taking a high place in the councils of the nation had they chosen to enter the domain of politics. In their private capacities each and all of the family have been distinguished for their ready and liberal support of measures calculated to improve the moral, social, and religious condition of their fellow-townsmen, and an appeal for support to a deserving object has never been made to them in vain. Mr. George Burns has always been ready to afford personal service and pecuniary assistance to schemes of a benevolent or philanthropic character. The name of Mr. John Burns is a "tower of strength" where there is a good cause to be promoted. He rendered valuable service in assisting to establish the Cumberland training ship—an institution which, in its proved results, has done more than all the rest of our industrial institutions put together to reform our street Arabs, and to inspire them with higher aims and better motives in life. During the three years that have elapsed since the Cumberland was brought to the Gareloch, Mr. Burns has acted as its president, and in the midst of his own multitudinous and incessant business duties he has not failed to bestow upon its affairs great attention. As an honorary president of the Foundry Boys' Religious Society, which embraces within its pale upwards of 14,000 boys and girls in the humblest ranks of life, he has likewise assisted very materially to promote the welfare of the city. For their own servants the Messrs. Burns have displayed an exemplary solicitude. They have provided a chapel in Glasgow for the sailors employed in their coasting trade; and they defray the expenses connected with the support of a chaplain, who visits the men on board ship, sailing with each vessel in turn, and preaching in the chapel on Sundays. Through the chaplain, who visits the wives and families of the sailors when they are away on duty, the Messrs. Burns are made aware of the circumstances and condition of the sailors in their employment, and they spare no trouble to maintain an efficient and sober body of men in a happy and comfortable position.
MR. JAMES BAIRD OF CAMBUSDOON.
"I cannot," wrote Bacon, "call riches better than the baggage of virtue." Practically the dictum of the philosopher has been endorsed by Mr. James Baird of Cambusdoon, who, along with his brothers who have predeceased him, has set a noble example in regard to both the acquisition and the distribution of wealth. Few men have been so fortunate in laying up treasure on earth; few have been so zealous of those good works which realise treasure on the other side of Time. For nearly half a century the name of Baird has been a household word in the West of Scotland. Ranking as they have done for many years as the largest employers of labour in Scotland, they must ever continue to occupy a foremost place in our commercial annals. But while they have thus been "diligent in business," they have also been "fervent in spirit." Possessing the power that belongs to wealth, they have not been unmindful of its accompanying responsibilities and duties. In the promotion of education, in the support of Church and missionary objects, in aiding the amelioration of their less fortunate fellow-creatures, and in the dispensation of that charity which covers a multitude of sins they have made their vast wealth subordinate to the service of their day and generation—the humble but yet potent means to the most beneficent ends. By every consideration, therefore, the honoured name of Baird is entitled to a place in these sketches.
Mr. James Baird of Cambusdoon is the only survivor of a family of eight sons, whose ancestors for several generations followed the primitive occupation of farming in the parish of Old Monkland. The father of the proprietors of Gartsherrie Ironworks was tenant of Kirkwood, Newmains, and High Cross farms. Of his numerous family, William, who died recently, after having attained the rare distinction of a millionaire, was the eldest, having been born in the year 1796; James, who was six years his junior, was born in 1802. The older members of the family received their education at the parish school of Old Monkland, under the late Mr. Cowan—one of a class of teachers who were qualified to impart something more than the mere rudiments of a solid classical education, and who have assisted so materially to place the parochial school system of Scotland on the high vantage ground from which, unless present appearances are deceptive, it is in danger of being hurled by the operation of the Education Act now under the consideration of Parliament. For the younger members of his family, Mr. Baird was enabled to provide the benefits of a University curriculum. It will not be necessary to refer to the head of the family further than to say that he lived to assist, by his judicious counsel and shrewd penetration, in founding the works at Gartsherrie, from which his family have since derived such a wide-spread fame.
Half a century ago, the inducements to enter upon an industrial career were much more limited than they are at the present day. The industries of the West of Scotland were then few and comparatively uninviting. The iron trade was in its infancy, and those engaged in it lacked the resources for the acquisition of wealth that were evolved from the discovery of blackband mineral deposits by Mushet, the application of the hot blast by Neilson, and the introduction of other more economical modes of working. Mr. James Baird did more than any other ironmaster in Scotland to carry out to its full and perfect development the principle of hot blast, and he greatly aided the success of Mr. Neilson's invention by designing appliances which enabled the air to be heated to a high temperature without destroying the apparatus. Many other important improvements, which rendered iron-making much more easy and simple, were soon afterwards carried out under Mr. Baird's auspices, including the adoption of the modern shape of the blast furnace, which is very much less in bulk and first cost than the furnaces used in the early history of the trade. We believe that Mr. Baird was the very first to introduce the modern shape of the blast furnace. It was a distinguishing feature in Mr. Baird's character that he excelled in suggesting and applying different modes of saving labour in every department, and so thoroughly skilled was he in all the various processes of manufacture, that every workman with whom he came in contact regarded him as a master of his handicraft. More than any other member of his family, Mr. Baird exercised practical authority over all structural and mechanical arrangements as well as over the mineral workings leased by or belonging to the firm. So late as the year 1830, the total number of blast furnaces in Scotland was only seven, and their capacity of production did not exceed 10,000 tons per annum. Last year, the total production of the 154 furnaces in Scotland was 1,164,000 tons, representing an aggregate value of not less than £3,000,000! A single glance at these figures will convey an adequate idea of the progress made in the interval; they require neither note nor comment. The Messrs Baird had little prospect before them other than that afforded by the pursuit of agriculture, in which their forefathers had engaged. But William, with characteristic enterprise, resolved that he would not be tied to the soil. Commencing on a very humble scale, with only a day level and a gin pit, at Rochsolloch, he was favoured by fortune in his development of the little colliery. His brothers joined the venture, and in a short time they were able to extend their operations to Maryston and Gartsherrie. On the 4th May, 1830, they put in blast the first furnace in the latter place, thus laying, perhaps with fear and trembling, the foundations of an establishment which is now one of the largest of its kind in the world. This was the tide in their affairs which, taken at its flood, led on to fortune. Although they have experienced, in common with all others similarly situated, the occasional vicissitudes of bad times, they were not only able from henceforth to keep their heads above water, but they continued to go forth "prospering and to prosper." In 1846 they started the Eglinton Ironworks, at which there are now eight blast furnaces. Six years later they acquired the Blair Ironworks, with five blast furnaces. In 1856, the Lugar and the Muirkirk Ironworks came into the market, and the Messrs. Baird became the purchasers. The latter works embrace a small manufactory of malleable iron, and the two together have seven blast furnaces. In 1864, the firm still further extended their now enormous business by the acquisition of the Portland Ironworks, with five blast furnaces, to which one has since been added. At the present time they own, inclusive of Gartsherrie, at which there are 16 blast furnaces, a grand total of 42 blast furnaces, 30 of which are now (March, 1872) in operation. The total produce of iron from the whole of these works will average 750 tons per day.