Sir George Burns, 1st Baronet

Who was Sir George Burns, 1st Baronet?

Sir George Burns, 1st Baronet was a Scottish shipping magnate.

Burns was born in Glasgow, the son of Rev John Burns, a Presbyterian minister. George was the younger brother of James Burns, with whom he formed a partnership, J. & G. Burns. Together, they started sailing ships between Glasgow and Liverpool, as well as across the Atlantic to Canada and the United States. J. & G. Burns set up the regular steamer service to the Inner and Outer Hebrides. This was sold to David Hutcheson & Co in 1851, and by the mid-1870s, it formed the basis of David MacBrayne Ltd, which today operates as Caledonian MacBrayne across the west coast of Scotland.

Burns was party to the consolidation of a number of companies, including the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, into the Cunard Line, which had been begun by Sir Samuel Cunard. The Cunard Line merged with the White Star Line in 1936, and was to launch liners such as the RMS Queen Mary. Today it is a US-owned cruise company, which operated the famous RMS Queen Elizabeth 2.

In addition to his shipping interests, Burns was also one of the largest shareholders in The Glasgow and South-Western Railway