Frederick Lewis, 1st Baron Essendon (1870–1944), known as Sir Frederick Lewis, Bt, between 1918 and 1932, was a British shipping magnate.
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Biography
editFrederick Lewis was born in 1870 in Witton Park. In 1883, aged 13, he joined Furness Withy & Co, a major shipping company based in Hartlepool.[1] By 1919 he had risen to be a Director of the Company and in that year he led a consortium that took ownership of the business.[1] In 1932 he became Chairman of Royal Mail Lines, which was created from the assets of the collapsed Royal Mail Steam Packet Company after the Royal Mail Case.[2]
Lewis was created a Baronet in 1918 and raised to the peerage as Baron Essendon, of Essendon in the County of Hertford, on 20 June 1932.[3][4]
He was instrumental in developing a system of sea water distillers which could produce fresh water in lifeboats during an emergency at sea.[1]
He died in 1944.[1]
Family
editHe married (Daisy Ellen) Eleanor Harrison. They had a son, Brian, who became a well-known racing driver, and daughter Frieda (1898–1979), who married Ian Patrick Robert Napier in 1927.
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Prince Line". The Red Duster. Merchant Navy Association. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008.
- ^ Nicol, Stuart (2001). MacQueen's Legacy; Ships of the Royal Mail Line. Vol. Two. Brimscombe Port and Charleston, SC: Tempus Publishing. p. 138. ISBN 0-7524-2119-0.
- ^ "No. 33838". The London Gazette. 24 June 1932. p. 4111.
- ^ "Lord Essendon". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 85. House of Lords. 5 July 1932. col. 539.