William Irving

William Irving was a steamship captain and entrepreneur in Oregon, US and British Columbia, Canada. The Irvington neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, is named in his honor and in New Westminster, British Columbia, his home, "Irving House", is now a heritage site. He was one of the earliest pioneers of steamer travel in the Pacific Northwest and is remembered as one of the most successful and popular captains of the era. Early years William Irving was born in 1816 in Annan, Dumfriesshire Scotland. In 1831, he journeyed to Boston, Massachusetts, and by the age of twenty-five he was a licensed steamship captain. Oregon In 1849 he traveled to Oregon, stopping along the way in Sacramento, California, where he worked unloading cargo during the California Gold Rush before continuing on to Portland. He purchased Block 12 of the Portland townsite and began a transportation business that delivered lumber by steamer up from California to Portland. In 1851 he married 18-year-old Elizabeth Dixon who had just arrived in Oregon from Indiana the previous year. William built his new bride a large house along the river and they stayed there for nine years and had five children: Mary, John, Susan, Elizabeth, and Nellie.