   thumb|right|william pirrie, 1st viscount pirrie   william james pirrie, 1st viscount pirrie, kp, pc (ire) (31 may 1847 â 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. ==background== pirrie was born in quebec city, canada east, the son of james alexander pirrie and eliza swan (montgomery) pirrie, who were both irish.thepeerage.com william james pirrie, 1st and last viscount pirrie 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.lord william james pirrie ==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. 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.{{london gazette |issue=27933 |date=20 july 1906 |startpage
1847_births 1924_deaths Businesspeople_in_shipping High_Sheriffs_of_Antrim High_Sheriffs_of_Down Knights_of_St_Patrick Lord-Lieutenants_of_Belfast Lord_Mayors_of_Belfast Members_of_the_Privy_Council_of_Ireland Members_of_the_Senate_of_Northern_Ireland_1921a25 People_associated_with_Queen\'s_University_Belfast People_educated_at_the_Royal_Belfast_Academical_Institution People_from_County_Down People_from_Quebec_City Presbyterians_from_Northern_Ireland Viscounts_in_the_Peerage_of_the_United_Kingdom