ROBERT Napier was perhaps the greatest of all Clyde shipbuilders.
In his later years, he spoke of being born with a"hammer in his hand" and of the strength of his hereditary taste for the anvil.
After his early experience, chiefly as a millwright, in 1815 he established a small smith’s shop near High Street in Glasgow. That same year, he was admitted to the Incorporation of Hammermen, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. In 1827 Napier again achieved great success with the engines he built for the two fastest ships to compete in the Northern Yacht Club's August Regatta, helping to further his career.
Napier had also made an association with Sam Cunard in 1840, forming a company to operate a steam packet service between Liverpool and New York. Subsequently, Napier built many Cunard ships, including, later in his career, The Scotia, which made the passage in less than nine days. Latterly his reputation was established as a builder of warships, not only for the British Government, but for many others.
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