Samuel Enderby (1755–1829) was a British whaling merchant, significant in the history of

whaling in Australia Whaling in Australian waters began in 1791 when five of the 11 ships in the Third Fleet (Australia), Third Fleet landed their passengers and freight at Sydney Cove and then left Port Jackson to engage in whaling and seal hunting off the coast of ...

Family background

His father, Samuel Enderby (1717–1797), founded the firm named after him in 1775, when he assembled a fleet of whaling vessels on the

Greenwich Peninsula The Greenwich Peninsula is an area of Greenwich in South London, South East London, England. It is bounded on three sides by a loop of the River Thames, Thames, between the Isle of Dogs to the west and Silvertown to the east. To the south is the ...

, on the south bank of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

just downstream of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

.Green A, 150 Years Of Industry & Enterprise At Enderby's Wharf
/ref> Samuel Enderby & Sons was a prominent whaling and sealing firm between 1775 and 1854. He was in partnership with a man named Buxton at St Paul's Wharf,K.M. Dallas, 'Enderby, Samuel (1756-1829)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, Melbourne University Press, 1966, p. 357.
/ref> i.e. near the cathedral of the City of London. The senior Samuel Enderby married Mary Buxton, a daughter of his partner, and they had three sons, Charles, Samuel, and George, to whom he eventually bequeathed his estate. The younger Samuel Enderby was baptised, as recorded in the protestant Dissenters Registry, on 4 June 1755. Charles married Elizabeth Goodwyn, and had an orphanage in Coombe Hill, Blackheath. This couple had no children of their own but they raised Maria King, daughter of

Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detai ...

(later

governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

), until she married Hannibal Hawkins Macarthur, a prominent early colonist of Australia, on 14 February 1813. Mrs. Charles Enderby left her money to a niece, Caroline Hawkins. George Enderby married Henrietta Samson. They lived in Coombe House near

Croydon, Surrey Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensive ...

. They had no children.

Career

In 1800, with his partner Alexander Champion, Enderby successfully petitioned that his whalers should be allowed to take provisions for the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

colony to compete with American merchants. He sent cargoes 'well adapted for the inhabitants' in the ''Greenwich'', which reached

Sydney Cove Sydney Cove (Eora language, Eora: ) is a bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, one of several harbours in Port Jackson, on the coast of Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central ...

in May 1801, and then in the ''Britannia''. Enderby's friend, Governor

, was instrumental in facilitating the whaling and trading activities of the Enderby Brothers firm. The vessels of the Enderby Brothers company were among the first to explore and chart the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

. The Enderby captain Abraham Bristow discovered the

Auckland Islands The Auckland Islands ( Māori: ''Motu Maha'' "Many islands" or ''Maungahuka'' "Snowy mountains") are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying , is surrounded by smaller Adams Island ...

in 1806, naming one of the islands

Enderby Island Enderby Island is part of New Zealand's uninhabited Auckland Islands archipelago, south of mainland New Zealand. It is situated just off the northern tip of Auckland Island, the largest island in the archipelago. Geography and geology Enderby ...

Marriage and children

The younger Samuel Enderby married Mary Goodwyn, sister of his brother's wife Elizabeth, on 2 April 1787 at St Botolph's Aldgate in the City of London.London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 They had eight children. Their daughter Elizabeth (1792–1873) married Henry William Gordon (1786–1865) and became the mother of 12 children, one of whom was

Gordon of Khartoum Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Gordon Heuck ...

. Their three sons, Charles, Henry and George, inherited the firm on his death in 1829. Sons Samuel IV & William were cut out of the firm all their life. Charles became a member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and died in poverty in 1876. Charles, Henry, and George never married and had no legitimate children, Samuel IV is reputed to have been married four times. He had a daughter, Georgina Mary, who inherited through her mother Mary (née Whyte), his third wife, the estates of the Whytes of Redhills in County Cavan. William Enderby is the only one to have male children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enderby, Samuel, Junior 1755 births 1829 deaths 18th-century British merchants English businesspeople British people in whaling Sealers Ship owners 19th-century British merchants