Samuel Enderby & Sons
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Whaling, sealing, shipping |
| Founded | 1775 |
| Founder | Samuel Enderby |
| Defunct | 1854 |
| Fate | Dissolved after financial ruin from failed Enderby Settlement |
| Headquarters | London , England |
Area served | South Atlantic, Southern Ocean, South Pacific, New Zealand waters, Antarctica |
Key people | Samuel Enderby (founder), Charles Enderby, Samuel Enderby Jr., George Enderby |
| Products | Whale oil, seal products, hemp rope and sail canvas |
Number of employees | Not specified |
Samuel Enderby & Sons was a London-based enterprise specializing in whaling and sealing, established around 1775 by Samuel Enderby (1717–1797). The firm significantly influenced the development of whaling in the United Kingdom, notably by encouraging ship captains to merge commercial whaling activities with exploratory ventures, supporting pioneering journeys to the subantarctic, Southern Ocean, and Antarctica.
History of the company: 1773–1800
Around 1768, Enderby acquired a vessel named Almsbury, which was subsequently renamed Rockingham and utilized for trading purposes. In 1773, Enderby initiated operations in the Southern Fishery, registering ships both in London and Boston, crewed predominantly by American Loyalists. These vessels facilitated trade between American colonies and England, transporting whale oil from New England. Some of these ships were reportedly leased for tea shipments connected to the events of the Boston Tea Party.
Following an embargo on whale oil exports from New England imposed in 1775 due to the American Revolutionary War, Enderby redirected his focus toward whaling activities in the South Atlantic. The Rockingham embarked on its inaugural whaling expedition on 11 November 1775, targeting the Brazil Banks.
In 1776, Samuel Enderby formally established Samuel Enderby & Sons. Together with associates Alexander Champion and John St Barbe, he assembled a fleet comprising twelve whaling vessels stationed on the Greenwich Peninsula, near London.
By 1785, the company had expanded its fleet to seventeen ships, all under the command of American Loyalist captains. Due to severe depletion of whale populations in the South Atlantic, operations shifted toward New Zealand waters, with a base established at the Bay of Islands.
In 1786, Samuel Enderby & Sons successfully petitioned for permission to operate in the South Pacific, effectively ending the East India Company’s exclusive control over that region. On 1 September 1788, their 270-ton whaler Amelia, under Captain James Shields, departed London bound for the Southern Ocean via Cape Horn. On 3 March 1789, crew member Archelus Hammond harpooned the first sperm whale off Chile. Amelia returned in March 1790 carrying 139 tons of sperm oil. This expedition marked the beginning of a period where exploration was closely linked with whaling activities, though it placed pressure on profitability.
By 1791, Samuel Enderby & Sons owned or leased a total of sixty-eight whaling vessels operating throughout subantarctic and Southern Ocean territories. Among these ships were several that participated in the Third Fleet bringing convicts to New South Wales in 1791, including , William and Ann, , , and . Captain Eber Bunker aboard William and Ann initiated whaling efforts in New Zealand waters during December 1791. Subsequently, Enderby’s fleet—comprising ships such as , Britannia, and —regularly operated out of Port Jackson.
Throughout this decade, restrictions imposed by the East India Company over fishing rights in the South Pacific were gradually lifted, rendering the region increasingly accessible to independent ventures. Governor Phillip Parker King of New South Wales actively sought to attract whaling enterprises.
Between January 1793 and November 1794, Enderby chartered for a survey mission of southeastern Pacific whaling grounds under Lieutenant James Colnett, who also conducted surveys around the Galapagos Islands.
Upon Samuel Enderby’s death in 1797, control of the company passed to his sons Charles, Samuel, and George.
Company History: 1800–1854
By 1801, Governor Phillip King of New South Wales noted the presence of six vessels engaged in whaling activities near New Zealand's northeast coast, confirming the establishment of the industry there by 1802.
On 18 August 1806, Captain Abraham Bristow, commanding the whaler Ocean, owned by Samuel Enderby & Sons, discovered the uninhabited Auckland Islands in the Southern Ocean. He named them "Lord Auckland's" in honor of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland. Bristow returned in 1807 aboard a different ship to formally claim the islands for England.
The whaling ship , owned by Samuel Enderby & Sons and captained by Frederick Coffin from Nantucket, reached whaling grounds near Japan on 3 August 1819. It arrived back in London on 21 April 1822 carrying 346 tons of sperm oil.
Following the death of Samuel Enderby Junior in 1830, his grandsons, Charles and George Enderby, purchased a site along the Thames River where they established Enderby's Wharf as the company’s headquarters. There, they constructed a ropewalk and manufacturing facility known as Enderby's Hemp Rope Works, specializing in producing sail canvas and ropes from hemp and flax.
Between 1830 and 1833, Samuel Enderby & Sons funded the Southern Ocean Expedition to discover new sealing territories. Utilizing company ships Tula and Lively, under the leadership of Captain John Biscoe, this journey became the third expedition to circumnavigate Antarctica. They identified and mapped a significant coastal region named Enderby Land, as well as features including Cape Ann, Mount Biscoe, Adelaide Island, and the Biscoe Islands. Despite facing setbacks such as scurvy outbreaks and the loss of Lively at the Falkland Islands in 1832, the expedition concluded successfully in early 1833.
From 1838 to 1839, Captain John Balleny commanded another Southern Ocean voyage aboard the whaling schooner Eliza Scott, during which he discovered the Balleny Islands.
In 1846, Charles Enderby founded the Southern Whale Fishery Company in England. By December 1849, he had established the Enderby Settlement at Erebus Cove, Port Ross, near Enderby Island within the Auckland Islands. The Hardwicke settlement aimed to support agriculture, ship resupply and maintenance, alongside whaling operations; however, it ultimately failed and was abandoned by August 1852.
Charles Enderby returned to London in 1853. The unsuccessful Enderby Settlement caused financial ruin for the family business, resulting in its dissolution in 1854. Charles Enderby passed away in poverty in London on 31 August 1876.
Geographical Features Named for the Enderby Family
Several geographical features bear the Enderby name:
- Enderby Land, an extensive coastal region of East Antarctica, stretching from Shinnan Glacier at to William Scoresby Bay at .
- Enderby Island, part of the uninhabited Auckland Islands archipelago located in New Zealand.
- Enderby Plain, an underwater plain situated at .
References in Fiction
- In Chapter 100 of Moby-Dick, the Nantucket whaler Pequod encounters a London-based whaling vessel called Samuel Enderby, which had also been pursuing the White Whale. The Samuel Enderby was an actual ship—one among three owned by the Enderby company (alongside Fancy and Brisk)—that arrived at Port Ross in 1849 carrying 150 settlers for the Enderby Settlement. Chapter 101 further explores the history of Samuel Enderby & Sons.
- In The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian, chapter 3 makes mention of voyages undertaken by Shields aboard Amelia and Colnett on Rattler.