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William Roué was a naval architect and the designer of Nova Scotia's famous Bluenose schooner. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 27 April 1879 to James and Grace (Penaligan) Roué, he married Winnifred Conrod in 1908, with whom he had four children: James, Harry, William and Frances. Roué developed a passion for boating at early age, built toy boats as a child and designed his first mathematically calculated yacht for his mentor Frank H. Bell in 1907. He studied mechanical drafting at the Victoria School of Art and Design and in 1920 he was contracted to design a fishing schooner to compete for the International Fisherman’s Trophy. His design, the Bluenose, was launched in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, on 26 March 1921, and went on to win many other awards.
Roué also worked for his father’s firm, Roué Carbonated Waters. After the sale of the firm in 1929, Roué became a full-time naval architect. In 1934 he moved to City Island, New York, to join the naval architecture firm Ford and Payne, which became Ford, Payne, and W.J. Roué. He returned to Nova Scotia in 1936 and in 1942 he invented the sectional barge. Roué worked as a naval architect until his death on 27 February 1970.