In 1824 William Laird, a Scottish entrepreneur, moved to Merseyside to find his fortune. He set up a boiler making works on the south bank of the Wallasey Pool with Daniel Horton. In 1828, this partnership was dissolved and William was joined by his son, John Laird. And renamed William Laird & Son. He realised the possibility of expanding into iron shipbuilding. Lairds first vessel was a 60ft prefabricated iron lighter built in 1829 In 1857 Laird opened a huge 20 acre site including five dry docks. This site still forms the core of the current yard and in 1858 an engine building was added. In 1860, John was joined by his sons William, John and Henry Laird. The firm was renamed John Laird, Sons & Co. Between 1829 and 1947 more than 1100 vessels were launched into the River Mersey. The main office was built in the 1960’s for Polaris 1976, the construction hall was built. The construction hall is so high that hot air balloonists test their balloons in here. The shipyard was often a very dangerous place to work and it’s known that there have been many deaths here over the years due to accidents.