Sir William Pearce, 1st Baronet

After supervising the construction of HMS Achilles, the first ironclad warship built in Chatham, he moved in 1863 to Scotland to take up the post of surveyor to the Lloyd's Register on the Clyde.

A year after arriving on Clydeside, he became general manager of Robert Napier and Sons, where he designed innovative fast, transatlantic liners for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.

The shipyard and offices in Govan occupied a site of over 70 acres (28 ha), and employed up to 5000 workers.

[9] Pearce was re-elected at the 1886 election with a slightly increased majority of 362 votes,[9] and on 21 July 1887 he was made a Baronet, of Cardell in the County of Renfrew.

Standing near the entrance of the cemetery the impressive monument was robbed of its architectural bronzes in 1970 and ultimately demolished in 1976 due to its excessive vandalism.

Contemporary caricature of Sir William Pearce
Statue of Sir William Pearce, Govan
The Pearce Lodge at Glasgow University . The building was part of the original city centre campus and in 1870 was salvaged and brought to the new Gilmorehill campus in the west end due to the philanthropy of Sir William Pearce.