The William D. Lawrence, named after her builder, designer and owner, was the largest wooden ship constructed in Nova Scotia during the age of sail and the largest Canadian-built square-rigger. Constructed at Maitland between 1872 and 1874, the great ship was then considered a colossus, having a registered tonnage of 2,459 tons.
The William D. Lawrence was not a fast ship but made money for her owner. She was 262 ft. long, with 8,000 square yards of sail. Her builder had conceived that one big vessel with one crew would do the work of two small vessels and two crews, but he was vexed by doubters who felt that everything about the ship was wrong and that even if she could be successfully launched, she would never be seaworthy.
However, in October, 1874, the "notorious and much abused ship" left the ways before a crowd of 4,000. She proved a commercial success in eight years in the Atlantic and Eastern trades but was sold to Norwegian interests in 1883. She sank at Dakar while being used as a coal barge. SG818