Samuel Cunard

Samuel Cunard -- (1787-1865), shipping magnate.

Samuel Cunard was born on November 21, 1787 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, the son of a master carpenter and timber merchant.

A highly successful entrepreneur in Halifax shipping, and one of a group of twelve individuals who dominated the affairs of Nova Scotia, Samuel Cunard went to England where he set up a joint venture with several other businessmen to bid on the rights to run a transatlantic shipping company between England and North America. Successful in his bid, the company would eventually bear his name, becoming Cunard Steamship Limited.

In 1840 the company’s first steamship, the Britannia, sailed from Liverpool, England to Boston, Massachusetts marking the beginning of regular passenger and cargo service. The prosperous company eventually absorbed Canadian Northern Steamships Limited and its principal competition, the White Star Line, owners of the ill-fated, Titanic. After that, Cunard dominated the Atlantic passenger trade with some of the world’s most famous liners.

In 1859, Samuel Cunard was knighted by Queen Victoria. In Halifax, at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, the entire second floor has been dedicated to his life and his world famous shipping line

Sir Samuel Cunard died on April 28, 1865 at Kensington, London, England and is buried there in the Brompton Cemetery.