Business Life
At the age of 22, Gourley went into business for himself as a ship-chandler. He was not satisfied, however, with this profession and went on to become a ship owner. His father, John Gourley, joined him in the business, as did his uncle, William Temperley. Working from an office in Villiers Street, Gourley expanded his business to include the exportation of coal and the importation of timber. Such was his apitutude for the business that, within a few years, he had acquired several fine ships, which were used in the Indian trade.
The Sunderland Echo later reported: "The Crimean War appears to have afforded him a fine opportunity for developing his business. At that time, when a wretched and niggardly government was starving the Tommy Atkins of that day in the trenches before Sebastopol, Sir Edward had a number of vessels engaged as transports."
Gourley went on an extended Continental tour during this period, visiting Turkey, the Crimea and Spain. It was this journey which persuaded him to favour steamers over sailing ships and, on his return, he invested heavily in steam shipping and became one of the leading shipowners in Sunderland.
1868 brought Gourley a run of bad luck, when he lost several steamers. When the bad luck and disasters continued, the politician Samuel Plimsoll brought serious charges against the "fair fame of Sir Edward" in an appeal on behalf of "Our seamen." These charges were subsequently the subject of investigation in the law courts. But the people of Sunderland, however, backed Gourley over Plimsoll, and voted for him as their MP that same year.
From 1883 to 1892 he was a director of the Imperial Tramways Company and its subsidiary the Corris Railway.
After entering Parliament, Gourley retired from the active management of his business, but always kept at least a few ships of his own. He was also a large shareholder in steamers and this interest in shipping remained with him until his death in 1902.
Read more about this topic: Edward Temperley Gourley
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