Shipping companies

P&O

Shipping companies were crucial to the lives of mariners. One of the major shipping companies of this era, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), was founded in 1837 and came to be, as Freda Harcourt has argued, a flagship of imperialism, with origins in Ireland. Initially starting as mail contractor, it developed lines across major imperial routes. 

Royal Mail Steamship Company

Alongside the P&O and other shipping companies, the Royal Mail Steamship Company, the Dutch and English East India Companies and the British and Indian Navies shaped shipping lines, and the wages and experiences of mariners across the long nineteenth century. The ongoing development of shipbuilding and steam technology across this period was crucial for the expansion of major British ports, as well as major port cities across the world such as Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong. By the early twentieth century, British shipping was dominating the world’s seas. In 1918, the British Mercantile Marine was the largest and most efficient merchant navies in the world.  Over 40% of the world’s commercial tonnage was controlled by the British government or British companies. These successes led to the ongoing expansion of British ports and continued to shape the lives of the mariners within them. Exploring the institutions such as missions and sailor societies that catered for the large body of mariners in British ports offers further insight into their economic, social and religious lives in this period.