A photograph of Sir William Arrol, LLD, MP, PRESIDENT 1895–1897 (President of the Institution of Engineers & Shipbuilders in Scotland). In 1872 William Arrol established his own company which became Sir William Arrol & Co., a large international civil engineering business. Major projects undertaken by the company include the replacement for the Tay Bridge, the Forth Bridge and Tower Bridge, London. Arrol was knighted in 1890 and elected as the Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for South Ayrshire at the 1895 general election. The firm Lafayette was founded in Dublin in 1880 by James Stack Lauder, who used the professional name of James Lafayette. In adopting the name 'Lafayette', he created a new image for the business, seeking to prosper from the cachet of a French name.