Samuel Cunard

Samuel Cunard was a British-Canadian merchant and shipowner who founded the first regular Atlantic steamship line. He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on November 21, 1787, to Abraham Cunard and Margaret Murphy. He joined his father in the timber business and expanded his interests into banking, lumber, coal, iron, and shipping. He also served as a captain in the militia during the War of 1812 and held various public offices in Halifax. He moved to England in 1838 to bid for a contract to establish a mail service between Britain and North America using steamships. He formed a partnership with George Burns and David MacIver and founded the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, later known as the Cunard Line. The company's first ship, the Britannia, sailed from Liverpool to Halifax and Boston on July 4, 1840, inaugurating the first scheduled transatlantic steamship service. Cunard's company became one of the most successful and prestigious in the world, operating a fleet of fast and reliable ships that carried passengers, mail, and cargo across the Atlantic. Cunard also invested in railways, canals, and telegraphs, and was involved in the development of the energy industry, especially uranium and radium. He was a philanthropist who supported various charitable and educational causes. He was knighted in 1859 and created a baronet in 1863. He died on April 28, 1865, in London, England, and was buried in Brompton Cemetery. He is remembered as one of the pioneers of the steamship era and a visionary entrepreneur.