William Inman

William Inman (1825–1881), shipowner

1825 born at Leicester the fourth son of Charles Inman (d. 1858), a partner in the firm of Pickford and Co., and Jane (d. 1865), daughter of Thomas Clay of Liverpool.

Educated at Leicester grammar school, Liverpool Collegiate Institute, and Liverpool Royal Institution

Served successively as a clerk to Cairns & Co., Cater & Co., and Richardson Brothers, all Liverpool merchants.

From 1846 Inman managed the Richardson ships trading between Liverpool and Philadelphia. He gained an intimate knowledge of the transatlantic emigrant trade/

1849 became a partner in the firm.

1849 he married Anne Brewis Stobart. They had nine sons and three daughters.

Hired by John Grubb Richardson to operate his linen shipping business.

1850 Inman followed with interest the voyages of the City of Glasgow, an iron screw steamship recently built at Glasgow by Tod and Macgregor. He persuaded his partners to buy the vessel and set up the Liverpool and Philadelphia Steam Ship Company.

1850 Inman persuaded the Richardsons to form the Liverpool and Philadelphia Steamship Company and buy an advanced new ship, the SS City of Glasgow. She proved profitable because her iron hull required less repair and her screw propulsion system left more room for passengers and freight. The ship's moderate speed also considerably reduced coal consumption.

1855 Richardson sold his interest in the firm to Inman after Inman chartered ships to the French during the Crimean War. The Inman line emerged after the war as one of the major steamship firms on the Atlantic and ultimately became apart of the American Line.

By 1854 Inman had three steamers, with two others under construction, but then two of his ships were lost and the future of the line seemed in doubt. He was saved by the Crimean War which offered lucrative employment for steamships as transports. He returned to the Atlantic trade in 1856 with four steamers. In the following year he shifted the American terminus for most of his sailings to New York and changed the name of his firm to the Liverpool, New York and Philadelphia Steam Ship Company, although it was always popularly known as the Inman Line.

By the 1860s Inman's success had attracted other steamship lines into the emigrant trade and competition was strong. Inman was now ready to take on mail contracts to reduce his costs, and by 1869 he and his principal rivals, the Cunard, National, and Guion lines, had established a shipping conference to control rates and limit competition. The Inman Line probably reached its peak in 1870 when its eighteen ships carried 44,000 passengers, mostly emigrants, to New York.

The 1870s brought further competition, especially from the White Star Line, and Inman was forced to spend large sums on new ships. His 5500 ton City of Berlin of 1875 was the largest merchant ship in the world after Brunel's Great Eastern, but cost £200,000 at a time when passenger traffic had slumped. In the hope of raising more capital, a new public company, the Inman Steamship Company, was set up in 1875, but conditions were still difficult at the time of Inman's death.

Inman was a member of the local marine board, of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Trust, and of the first Liverpool school board; he was a captain of the Cheshire rifle volunteers, a magistrate for Cheshire, and chairman of the Liverpool Steam Shipowners' Association. He died at his home, Upton Manor, Upton, near Birkenhead, on 3 July 1881, and was buried in Moreton parish church, Cheshire, on 6 July.

See Also

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Sources of Information

• Biography of William Inman, ODNB