ABSTRACT
The history of the partnership of William Thomson and Company is one of orderly progression and continuous adaptation to changing circumstances. Not the least remarkable feature of the firm is that it has been under the unbroken control of the same family for almost one hundred and thirty years. William Thomson, the founder, had two sons, both of whom proved able and willing to manage the maturing shipping line and to guide it through the difficult transition from sailing vessels to steamship operation. These two men had a number of children and four of their sons helped to carry the company through the problems of the First World War and the rigours of inter-war depressions. Of these, one, the present chairman, survived to supervise the rebuilding of the fleet necessitated by its almost complete destruction in the Second World War. In this formidable task he had the assistance of the son of a fifth brother who had preferred politics to commerce.
