Edward Harland

Edward James Harland was born on 15 May 1831 in Newborough, a neighbourhood within Scarborough in what was then the North Riding of Yorkshire, to Dr. William Harland and his wife Anne, the daughter of Gowan Pierson who was from Goathland, Yorkshire. Harland's birthplace is now the site of a Marks & Spencer store. Edward was the seventh child of ten, and the fourth boy of six. His antecedent brother died as an infant; Edward Harland is described as the sixth child in the family by alternative sources. Dr. Harland was a physician and an amateur engineer; he invented a patented steam-powered carriage in 1827.

Robert Hickson and Company

In December 1854, Harland moved to Belfast with Schwabe's encouragement, and was employed as manager of Robert Hickson's shipyard in Queen's Island. Here, Harland became known for strict management and improving workmanship, by cutting wages and banning smoking; he also carried a piece of chalk and an ivory ruler, used for marking mistakes. An employee at Harland's later venture, Harland and Wolff, stated: He had an all-smelling nose as well as an all-seeing eye. One day he was walking rapidly along, and he suddenly stopped dead and sniffed at a saw-pit. In a flash the trapdoor was lifted and there squatting in the sawdust was a wizened little man, puffing at clay pipe Harland was able to keep the shipyard running despite the owner's financial problems. In 1857, Harland employed Gustav Wilhelm Wolff, Gustav Schwabe's nephew, as his personal assistant. Harland began attempting to open his own shipbuilding business, and was unsuccessful with several applications to open yards in Liverpool. But on 21 September 1858, Robert Hickson wrote to him: I offer you my interest and goodwill in the shipyard at the Queen's Island, Belfast...for the sum of five thousand pounds...

With the financial assistance of Gustav Schwabe, Harland purchased the business and on 1 November 1858, Edward James Harland and Company was created.

Early career

Edward Harland was educated at Edinburgh Academy. In 1846, aged 15, he went to Newcastle upon Tyne to serve an apprenticeship at Robert Stephenson and Company, an engineering works. The owner, Robert Stephenson, was the son of George Stephenson, the locomotive engineer, of whom Edward Harland's father was a friend. Harland served as an apprentice in Newcastle until 1851. During the apprenticeship, Harland met Gustav Christian Schwabe, who knew Dr. Thomas Harland, Edward's uncle; Schwabe was a partner in John Bibby & Sons, a shipping company based in Liverpool. Schwabe arranged for Harland to be employed at J. and G. Thomson marine engineers in Glasgow, who were shipbuilding for John Bibby, after he completed his apprenticeship. Here, Harland earned 20 shillings a week and became head draughtsman. In 1853, Harland left Glasgow to return to Newcastle, as the manager of the Thomas Toward shipyard on the Tyne.

Edward Harland served as the Chief Belfast Harbour Commissioner from 1875 until the 1880s. Harland was a Presbyterian and a member of the Church in Rosemary Street, Belfast. As a member of the Conservative and Unionist Party, he served as Mayor of Belfast in 1885 and 1886, and strongly opposed the 1886 Home Rule Bill. In 1885, Harland was granted a knighthood and on 25 July the same year, he was granted a baronetcy. In 1889 Harland was elected to serve as the Member of Parliament for Belfast North. He was appointed to a Royal Commission on industrial disputes in 1891. Harland then moved to London, and was re-elected unopposed twice in 1892 and 1895 and served as MP for the constituency until his death, on Christmas Eve 1895, at his Irish home, Glenfarne Hall in Glenfarne, County Leitrim. Harland left no heir to his baronetcy.

He was the great-uncle of Air Marshal Sir Reginald Harland.