Cunard 175: Engine for Change
Sir Samuel Cunard, 1787-1865
The Cunard family settled in Halifax and their business benefitted from privateering during the War of 1812.
French-made tea warmer ca. 1830s-1840s said to have been used in the Samuel Cunard household.
Locating along the Halifax waterfront gave the Cunard business many opportunities.
As agent for the East India Co., Cunard brought shiploads of tea from China to the elite of Halifax and elsewhere.
This bell from a shipwreck helps to tell the story of Cunard’s concerns for safety on the sea as Nova Scotia’s Lighthouse Commissioner.
Cunard was agent to a coal company headquartered in Pictou County which gave him access to coal and steam engines.
Cunard celebrated the arrival of Samson from England, one of the first locomotives ever seen in Nova Scotia.
The rise of steam power strongly influenced Cunard and his fortunes.
The Royal William, in which Cunard was an investor, crossed the Atlantic from Pictou to Liverpool, England in 1833, powered mostly by steam.
Ship models help to tell the Cunard story.
The beginning of the Cunard steamship line is explained.
Visitors can operate this side lever steam engine model to explore the technology Cunard first used in his steam vessels.
Britannia, the flagship of Cunard’s new steamship line was launched in 1840 and greatly reduced the time it took to cross the Atlantic from England.
