"The memorial is in the form of a bronze plinth, surmounted by a bust of William Pirrie.
The memorial reportedly suffered damage and was removed to safe storage before undergoing restoration in 2005. The memorial was re-sited to City Hall, installed atop a Portland stone base. It stands within sight of the Edward Harland and Belfast men (Titanic) memorial. The memorial was official unveiled on 31 May 2006, on the 159th anniversary of William Pirrie's birth.
The memorial stands atop a granite base, and carries on its face a bronze plaque carrying a dedication to William Pirrie and his wife, Margaret (née Carlisle). The plaque has turned corners and is surmounted by a scroll, surrounded at the top and upper sides by acanthus-type leaves, with a further scroll at the base. Above the inscription is a bas-relief of the Pirrie coat of arms with the family motto 'Deeds Not Words'.
The bust of William Pirrie is of his head, neck and upper torso and depicts his appearance in later life. He is wearing a double-breasted jacket, with bow-tie and handkerchief in his breast-pocket.
The memorial plaque carries the inscription:
In Loving and Most Grateful Memory of my Beloved Husband
William James Pirrie
1st Viscount KP. P.C. HML. Born 31st May 1847 - Died 7th June 1924.
Only son of James Alexander Pirrie and Eliza Swan Montgomery Married 17th April 1879 Margaret M. Carlisle Daughter of John Carlisle and Catherine Montgomery
He entered Queens Island as an apprentice 23 June 1862 62 years later on 23rd June 1923 he was laid to rest there. As Chairman of Messrs Harland & Wolff's vast organization for so many years he by his own cheerful service and wide experience proved as inspiration to the many fellow-workers identified with him in the evolution of shipbuilding. It was his joy to recognize their loyalty and allegiance. On all seas the ships that sail testify to the great benefits his genius conferred on mankind. He spent his life endeavouring to be useful in his day and generation and was closely associated always with the progress of and charities in this city.
Here also rests
Margaret M. Carlisle
Wife of William James Viscount Pirrie K.P. Born 31st May 1857 - Died 19th June 1935
She was the devoted companion and helpmate of her husband always interested in and sharing his life work during the 47 years they were together; and promoting with boundless energy and enthusiasm, plans for the welfare of others - a truly lovable women she endeared herself to all who knew her.
Thrice blest and more whom vows unbroken bind, Whose love is ne'er of jarring moods the slave, Ye al nobly blest, to whom tis given to find Devotion steadfast even to the end.During the restoration in 2005 two additional plaques were affixed either side of the plinth. The first on the left side is the four-masted sailing vessel SS Venetian, built in 1860 for the Bibby Line by Harland and Wolff. The other plaque on the right side is of the RMS Olympic, built in 1911 by Harland and Wolff."
SOURCE - (
visit link)
"William James Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, KP, PC (Ire) (31 May 1847 – 7 June 1924), was a leading Irish shipbuilder and businessman. He was chairman of Harland and Wolff, shipbuilders, between 1895 and 1924, and also served as Lord Mayor of Belfast between 1896 and 1898. He was ennobled as Baron Pirrie in 1906, appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1908 and made Viscount Pirrie in 1921. In the months leading up to the 1912 Titanic disaster, Lord Pirrie was questioned about the number of life boats aboard the ship. He responded that the great ship was unsinkable and the rafts were to save others. This move would haunt him forever.
Pirrie was born in Quebec City, Canada East, the son of James Alexander Pirrie and Eliza Swan (Montgomery) Pirrie, who were both Irish. He was taken back to Ireland when he was two years old and spent his childhood at Conlig, County Down. Belonging to a prominent family, his nephews included Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Thomas Andrews, builder of the RMS Titanic, and Sir James Andrews, 1st Baronet, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.
Career
Pirrie was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution before entering Harland and Wolff shipyard as a gentleman apprentice in 1862. Twelve years later he was made a partner in the firm, and on the death of Sir Edward Harland in 1895 he became its chairman, a position he was to hold until his death. As well as overseeing the world's largest shipyard, Pirrie was elected Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1896, and was re-elected to the office as well as made an Irish Privy Counsellor the following year. He became Belfast's first honorary freeman in 1898, and served in the same year as High Sheriff of Antrim and subsequently of County Down. In February 1900 he was elected President of the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom, where he had been vice-president the previous year. He helped finance the Liberals in Ulster in the 1906 general election, and that same year, at the height of Harland and Wolff's success, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Pirrie, of the City of Belfast. The following year he was appointed Comptroller of the Household to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and in 1908 he was appointed Knight of St Patrick (KP).
Lord Pirrie was jeered in the streets after chairing a famous meeting of the Ulster Liberal Association addressed by Winston Churchill. That same year he was to travel aboard the Titanic, but illness prevented him from joining the ill-fated passage. Pro-Chancellor of The Queen's University of Belfast from 1908 to 1914, Lord Pirrie was also in the years before the First World War a member of the Committee on Irish Finance as well as Lieutenant for the City of Belfast (both 1911). During the war he was a member of the War Office Supply Board, and in 1918 became Comptroller-General of Merchant Shipbuilding, organising British production of merchant ships.
In 1921 Pirrie was elected to the Northern Ireland Senate, and that same year was created Viscount Pirrie, of the City of Belfast, in the honours for the opening of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in July 1921, for his war work and charity work."
SOURCE - (
visit link)
Further reading - (
visit link)