ship's chandler, to establish the Tempus Shipping Co Ltd, which then ordered their first ship the Tempus. After the partnership broke up after little more than a year, Reardon Smith decided to go it alone. In 1905, together with his son Willie, he founded his own company, W. R. Smith & Sons Ltd, based in Cardiff. W. R. Smith & Son operated from 1905 to 1909 before being succeeded by W. R. Smith & Sons between 1909 and 1922, and then finally Sir W. R. Smith & Sons Ltd from 1923 onwards. Reardon Smith followed the common practice of the time in Cardiff of expanding his fleet by floating separate public companies in which his privately owned W. R. Smith would take a share. This allowed him to tap new sources of capital while also reducing the liability. The first such company was the Instow Steamship Co Ltd, created in 1905 with a proposed capital of £32,800. The company's first ship was City of Cardiff from Ropner & Son at Stockton-on-Tees. Despite a large mortgage from the builder, Reardon Smith struggled to raise sufficient capital to pay for her. However, after the Holman family from Topsham in Devon showed their faith in him by buying a large number of shares the remainder were soon taken up. Following her delivery in March 1906, she was placed in the traditional exporting of coal and transporting back grain under the command of his brother John Smith with John's son Harry serving as second mate. Under Reardon Smith's careful management, she was profitable from the start with the first two voyages giving a return of 8% per share. Instow's second vessel was the Leeds City a trunk deck ship built in 1908 by Ropner & Son. In August 1909, he ordered the Bradford City from Ropner & Son. To pay for her, he floated the Bradford Steamship Co Ltd in 1910 with a nominal capital of £33,250. The company's name and that of the later Leeds Shipping Co Ltd was in reference to the many investors that Reardon Smith had signed up for his previous public company and hoped to continue to attract from Yorkshire. The company was subsequently amalgamated with the St Just Steamship Co Ltd in 1917. The City of Cardiff was blown ashore at Nanjizal, not far from Land's End, in a ferocious gale on 12 March 1912. All 27 of