The second of five sons of a Glasgow merchant, Graham worked in London then with Campbell Rivers & Company, a shipping house, in Glasgow. He became a partner in his father's business and established the Lancefield Spinning Company using the most modern available equipment. The establishment of a Lisbon branch in 1810 marked the international expansion of the company.
Graham served for a time on the Corporation of Glasgow, and as a magistrate, but generally did not play a prominent role in politics or in public affairs.
Twice married, he left a large family including a son, William Graham, who represented Glasgow in parliament from 1865 until 1874.
AMONG the past generation of Glasgow merchants, no one in his day was more widely known or more universally esteemed than William Graham, junior, of Lancefield, whose influence on the history of those well-known firms still bearing his name in Glasgow deservedly entitles him to a place on the roll of its representative and influential citizens.
His father, eldest son of James Graham of Tamrawer, in the county of Stirling, about the year 1780 established in Glasgow the firm of William Graham & Co., manufacturers of goods for the London market, and there it was that, in the year 1786, his second son, the subject of this sketch, was born. With the view of furthering the interests of his father's firm, and for the purpose of acquiring a thorough and practical knowledge of the home trade, Mr. Graham at an early age went to London, where he entered the employment of one of the leading houses in St. Paul's Churchyard, and there he was most assiduous and successful in his endeavours to master this special branch of business. To realize his idea of a thorough mercantile education, he returned to Glasgow and entered one of the most extensive shipping houses of that day, which still continues an honourable career, that of Campbell Rivers & Co. The experience thus gained proved invaluable to him, both in contributing to the success which attended his own business undertakings, and in giving to his opinions on all mercantile questions that weight and importance which, in after life, they undoubtedly and deservedly had. With this training he became a partner in his father's business, the conditions of which were at that time undergoing a change. Owing to the introduction of power-looms, manufacturing by hand, in which William Graham & Co. had hitherto been engaged, had become less remunerative, and a complete alteration in the modus operandi had to be effected. With characteristic promptitude and energy, Mr. Graham made up his mind that the trade was a waning one, without prospect of recovery; he determined to abandon the old methods, and substitute the modern application of steam power. This he did by the establishment of extensive spinning and weaving mills, well known as the Lancefield Spinning Co., with machinery of the most approved kind then known. Under the joint management of his nephew, Mr. Wm. Smith, and himself, this firm worked with signal success, and it was only some few years ago that, owing to the formation of new docks at Lancefield, and the consequent increased price of land, which rendered the site too valuable for such a purpose, the works were closed. In the year 1810, Mr. Graham launched out on a new field of enterprise, and the establishment of a house in Lisbon may be said to have been the first link in the chain which now associates the firm of William Graham & Co. with so many of the large commercial centres of the world.
Mr. Graham was the second of five brothers, of whom the eldest, James, died at home in 1833, after having for some years resided in Lisbon carrying on the newly-established house there.
The third son, Alexander, who had started his career as a lawyer, joined the firm somewhat late in life, and was by his early training disposed to legal rather than mercantile pursuits; he was well known in Glasgow as a prominent Liberal and active politician, frequently appearing before the public as an author of pamphlets on legal and economic subjects, and doing especially good service in agitating for the removal of the cotton duty, which, with the duties on raw materials of every kind, was not abolished until after years of remonstrance from the great manufacturing centres. In the anti-Corn Law agitation he also took an active part, and assisted in bringing about the repeal of those obnoxious and oppressive measures.
The fifth son, Robert, one of the most energetic of the brothers associated in William Graham & Co., spent a large part of his business life in Portugal, but was, for many years prior to his death in 1859, a well-known citizen of Glasgow.
Mr. John Graham of Skelmorlie, the fourth son and only survivor of the five, well known in the Glasgow of to-day, not only as the head of the house of William Graham & Co., but as an enthusiastic lover and supporter of the fine arts, at the early age of fifteen undertook the establishment of a house at Leghorn, which continued until the success of Napoleon's policy excluded British commerce from all the continental markets except Portugal, when he transferred himself to that country and founded at Oporto the house which still connects William Graham & Co. of Glasgow with the wine trade of Portugal. In 1839 the firm, by the formation of a house at Bombay, extended its business operations to India; and again in 1863 a separate firm was established at Calcutta; more recently a branch has been formed at Kurrachee.
Had we only undertaken a personal memoir, many of these details might possibly have been omitted, but we confine ourselves to one point of view, that of Mr. Graham's place in this work mainly as it has reference to the commercial history of our city. Undoubtedly, by his capacity and energy he did his part, and that no small one, towards extending the commerce of Glasgow; and the houses which he founded have, during the past seventy-five years, grown with its growth, forming at the present time no unimportant factor in any estimate which may be made of the extent of the trade of this country. Mr. Graham, though a staunch Conservative, took no prominent part in politics or in the public affairs of the city. The political controversies at the time of and immediately after the first Reform Bill were suited neither to his tastes nor to his business engagements; he served, however, as a member of the Corporation of Glasgow previous to 1832, and was one of the magistrates who attended to receive George the Fourth in Edinburgh when his Majesty visited Scotland. As one of the earliest members of the Clyde Trust, he interested himself unceasingly in the progress of its undertakings, the subsequent development of which on a vast scale has tended so greatly to increase the prosperity, population, and importance of Glasgow.
Mr. Graham, who was twice married, died in 1856, leaving a large family; of his sons, four were associated with him in business, and the eldest of these, Mr. William Graham, represented Glasgow in Parliament from 1865 till 1874.
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