Dennison J. Lawlor

Dennison J. Lawlor, (January 1, 1824 – January 1, 1892) was a Canadian-Irish shipbuilder and yacht designer. He apprenticed under shipbuilder Whitmore & Holbrook. Lawlor had his own shipyard, building and designing for 40 years some of the finest yachts, pilot boats and 150 merchant vessels built from his designs. The most notable were the Hesper, Florence and D. J. Lawlor. Lawlor died in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1892.

Early life

Dennison J. Lawlor was born on January 1, 1824, in New Brunswick, Canada, to James Lawlor and an Irish mother. He came to Boston when he was fifteen years old. Lawlor married Caroline F. Littlefield on February 18, 1847, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They had four children, one being, Captain Josiah Warren Lawlor, who was born on November 8, 1854, in Chelsea.

In June 1891, Josiah Lawlor sailed from Crescent Beach, Massachusetts to Land's End on a small 15-foot boat, the Sea Serpent, which was designed by his father. He was lost at sea in 1892 trying to cross the Atlantic on a 12-foot boat.

During 1884–85, Lawlor's Chelsea shipyard shut down due to foreclosure.