Samuel Cunard
Samuel Cunard (1787-1865), ship owner
1787 born on 21 November at Halifax, Nova Scotia, the son of Abraham Cunard, merchant, of Philadelphia, and his wife, Margaret Murphy.
Went into partnership with his father as Cunard & Son, and bought their first small vessel.
1823 After the death of his father, he traded as S. Cunard & Co. with the West Indies and South America, making contacts during his frequent visits to London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, and acting as colonial agent for several British concerns.
By the early 1830s, Cunard had stakes in coal, timber, China tea, whaling, and banking, and a fleet of forty vessels.
1838 After the SS Great Western showed that the possibilities of steam power for shipping, Cunard determined to build a steam fleet of his own.
A friend in the Admiralty advised him to talk to Robert Napier, who not only agreed to build ships but introduced him to the partners of a thriving coastal trading concern, George Burns in Glasgow and David MacIver in Liverpool.
With capital provided by them and their friends, Cunard formed the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Co, which was granted a mail contract.
Buried in Brompton Cemetery