STORYBOOK
View William's known story by chapter

From Humble Beginnings | The Young Captain | Le Lacheur & Co | Costa Rica – The Early Years
Costa Rica – Building a Nation | The Legacy

The Legacy

Between 1857 and 1859 William had a series of shipping agents in San Jose, but in 1860 he established his son, John, as his permanent representative in Costa Rica. In 1861 Sebire launched the COSTA RICA PACKET, of 531 tons, for William. The largest ship yet to be used in the coffee trade, she was more than twice as big as the MONARCH, the first of William’s ships to sail directly from Puntarenas to London. She spent 18 years sailing between London and the Pacific before she was sold, first to an Irish and then to an Australian firm, where she was used as a whaling ship.

William was living at 47 Gloucester Road, in Regents Park, London, when he died on 27 June 1863, after a lingering illness. He was buried at Highgate Cemetery, North London. The Guernsey newspaper, The Star, in its obituary said:
“Guernsey never gave birth to a man of whom the island had more cause to be proud or who has deserved to be more lamented than him whose decease we record. By his industry and intelligence and his Christian virtues he entitled himself to the highest esteem which society can confer”.

William Le Lacheur’s ships went on to feature on Costa Rican bank notes and postage stamps during the 19th and 20th centuries. He became a national hero, credited with transforming the country from being the poorest in Central America to the wealthiest, in less than a quarter of a century.

by Gillian Lenfestey, 2003