Lord Leverhulme

William Hesketh Lever was born in Bolton, Lancashire in 1851 and built up the Lever Bros/Unilever conglomerate.  He had a passion for social improvement and established the model industrial village of Port Sunlight near Liverpool in 1888.

Having first seen the Hebrides on a vacation cruise in 1884, he bought the Isle of Lewis in 1918 for £143,000 and a year later acquired the Isle of Harris.  In little over three years Leverhulme spent some £2million on industrialisation schemes, largely based on fishing, which he believed would transform the economic and social conditions in the islands.

Leverhulme had ambitious plans for Stornoway as the capital town of the Hebrides.  He commissioned the artist Raffles Davison to draw up his future vision for the town.  This illustration hangs in Amity House, offices of the Stornoway Port Authority and shows, among other things, a bridge linking the harbour at Bayhead to the Castle Grounds.

Leverhulme gave the Castle electric lighting, central heating, numerous bathrooms and intercom telephones.  An enthusiastic dancer, he extended the ballroom by combining it with an adjacent drawing room.   He hosted many famous visitors and invitations to balls at the Castle were eagerly sought after. Leverhulme slept in a small 'open air' bedroom in the mezzanine at the back of the Castle. 

When it became clear that his development schemes had no future, Lord Leverhulme offered the island back to the local people.  Only the people of Stornoway were able to take up his offer and in 1923 the Stornoway Trust was established.  As well as the Castle and its extensive policies, the Trust became the owner of 64,000 acres of North East Lewis.