Sir Samuel Cunard (1787 - 1865)
The Founder of Cunard Line
Sir Samuel Cunard was born in 1787. He was a successful merchant of
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (then part of the British Empire) and
owned a number of sailing ships. By the 1830s the Industrial Revolution
had progressed far enough to make the idea of transatlantic
communication by means of a fleet of steamships plausible. In 1838 the
desire for dependable delivery of the "Royal Mails" on which imperial
communication and commerce depended prompted the British government of
HM Queen Victoria to invite tenders for a service of steamships to
replace the transatlantic mail brigs, Cunard travelled to Britain, and
joined forces with Robert Napier (one of the foremost marine engineers
of the day), and put in a tender for the mail service. In the terms of
his tender he agreed that he would build four ships and would guarantee
to operate two voyages to America and back every month, winter and
summer. On the 4th May 1839 the contract to deliver the mail across the
North Atlantic from Britain to North America was signed. With his
tender for the service accepted, Cunard formed the British & North
American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company with the shipowners George
Burns of Glasgow and David MacIver of Liverpool. He then placed orders
for four wooden paddle steamers, and began transatlantic operations in
1840, sailing from Liverpool to Boston.
Thus was born Cunard Line. The passenger and mail service which Sir
Samuel Cunard created all those years ago has held a leading position
in the transatlantic passenger trade ever since. Sir Samuel Cunard was
created a baronet in 1859 for his outstanding services to the British
shipping industry. Sir Samuel Cunard died on the 28th April 1865.
In 1981 Sir Samuel Cunard was inducted into the ASTA Travel Hall of
Fame for his contribution to the development of transatlantic travel.
Recently in 2004 to honour the maiden visit of the new RMS Queen Mary 2
to Halifax on the 25th September 2004 a project was set up to honour
the legacy of Sir Samuel Cunard, when Commodore Ronald Warwick (Master
of the RMS Queen Mary 2) suggested the creation of the Sir Samuel
Cunard Memorial Project. This project is now being taken forward by the
Halifax Foundation supported by Cunard Line. The project aims to erect
a commemorative monument to Sir Samuel Cunard on the Halifax waterfront
in the autumn of 2006. The project recognises the far reaching
impact of Sir Samuel Cunard's contributions to the city of Halifax, the
province of Nova Scotia, Canada and the world. Now recognised as the
most renowned businessman in the Atlantic Provinces, Cunard
revolutionised commerce and communications between continents nearly
two centuries ago back in 1840. He was a true visionary who foresaw the
day when steam power would replace sailing on the North Atlantic,
changing the course of maritime history and creating the "ocean
highway".
Related Websites:
Carnival Corporation & PLC
www.carnivalcorp.com
or www.carnivalplc.com
Cunard Line (UK website)
www.cunard.co.uk
Cunard Line (USA website)
www.cunard.com
The Halifax Foundation
www.halifax.ca/foundation/index.html
The Cunard Steamship Society
http://cunardsteamshipsociety.com
The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/
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