John Laird (14 June 1805 – 29 October 1874) was a British shipbuilder and key figure in the development of the town of Birkenhead.

[3] Laird realised that the techniques of bending iron plates and riveting them together to build ships were similar to the principles involved in making boilers.

Laird's first vessel Wye was a 60 ft pre-fabricated iron lighter in 1829 – displacement sixty tons – which was used on canals and lakes in Ireland.

This was followed by further orders for more lighters and in 1833 the paddle steamer Lady Lansdowne was built for the same firm, the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company.

In 1834, he built the paddle steamer John Randolph for Savannah, Georgia, often stated, wrongly, to be the first iron ship seen in America.

[2][11] The government sent Captain Edward Augustus Inglefield of the HMS Majestic to seize the ships from the Laird's docks.

He made some generous donations for the erection of Saint James Church, the Borough Hospital and the Laird School of Art.

[14] In October 1874, Laird died at his home, 63 Hamilton Square, Birkenhead, following a riding accident in February that year.

[16] The statue now stands in the western side of the square, having been moved from its original position after World War I to make way for a cenotaph.