Street in Mitchell, an industrial suburb of Canberra—the streets of which are named after Australian industialists—is named after him, as is the Sandford Street light rail stop. Sandford's lifesize portrait—painted by Norman St Clair Carter, paid from funds raised by public subscription in 1908—has a chequered history. It hung for 30 years in the Art Gallery in Sydney, until his daughter was requested to take it away in 1938. It then hung at the Chamber of Manufacturers until 1951, when it moved to the Sydney boardroom of John Lysaght Australia. Presumably when that company was taken over by BHP, it moved to the offices of the Port Kembla steelworks (now Bluescope Steel). William Sandford was, in many ways, a very unusual person; an industrialist who felt more at home with nature; a capitalist just as concerned for his workers' wages as his own personal fortune; a businessman comfortable with a Labor government and state ownership of industry; someone wracked by self doubt and inner turmoil but who was well respected and liked, almost universally; someone honourable but still capable of deceit on occasion; someone proud of his ability to recruit talented, knowledgeable and loyal people but who became obsessive about retaining personal control, and a visionary who lacked confidence in ultimate success but nonetheless pursued it, almost to the point of self destruction. Later life Exhausted by the failure of his business, Sandford retired. He left Lithgow in early 1908—making a trip to England soon afterwards—and lived first at Darling Point, naming his residence 'Torrington', before moving in 1911 to an orchard in Castle Hill, which he named 'Sandford Glen'. He sold the orchard in May 1920 and moved to Eastwood. A keen gardener, he retained good health and vitality into old age. When Sandford visited Lithgow in 1922, it was as an honoured guest and he received an official civic reception. He attended the service for his old friend and later foe, Charles Hoskins, who died in February 1926. Some of his old associates continued to visit him, including for his 90th birthday in 1931. He lived long enough to see protection of the iron and steel industries introduced by the Labor government of Andrew Fisher, the first steel rails made at Lithgow in 1911, establishment of a rival steelworks at Newcastle in 1915, establishment of a new listed company Australian Iron & Steel in May 1928, commencement of