Mather & Co.

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Mather & Co. were three brothers (or cousins) that began in commerce and contracting for the British Royal Navy. They became owners of whalers and between them at one or another time were owners or part-owners of up to 29 vessels that engaged in the British Southern Whale Fishery between 1775 and 1815. [1]

Contents

The brothers operated from premises at Orchard Place, Blackwall, London, 12 Birchin Liane, Cornhill, London, Mark Lane and Mincing Lane, Tower, Copthall buildings, Throgmorton Street, and Finsbury Square. [1]

The three Mathers were:

James Mather (b.1738 – d. 1796): James Mather began in the 1770s trading with North America and during the American War of Independence chartered storeships to the Royal Navy. When he died three of his sons continued the business until 1803. [1]

Thomas Mather (.c.1736-38 – d. 1798): Thomas Mather was a mariner in the whaling business, and a member of the London Corporation in 1800. [1]

John Mather (d.1802): John Mather was a mariner in the whaling business, and a member of the London Corporation in 1800. [1]

Ships

The database of vessels engaged in the British Southern Whale Fisheries lists 28 whaling vessels that the Mathers owned or part-owned at one time or another. [2] However, some of these vessels may have traveled to the South Seas as convict transports to Australia, or supply ships. There are other vessels associated with Mathers & Co. that were not whalers.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Clayton & Clayton (2016), pp. 76–77.
  2. British Southern Whale Fishery - owner: Mather.
  3. Register of Shipping (1800), Seq..no.A305.
  4. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4134. 17 March 1801. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735020.
  5. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4147. 1 May 1801. hdl:2027/hvd.32044105233084.
  6. Hackman (2001), p. 144.
  7. Hackman (2001), p. 60.
  8. Hackman (2001), p. 189.
  9. Hackman (2001), pp. 71–72.

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Britannia was built in South Carolina in 1772. Prior to 1798, Britannia sailed between London and South Carolina, or simply served as a transport. In 1798 she changed ownership and began a sequence of whaling voyages. Between 1798 and 1807 she made a number of whaling voyages to the South Seas whale fishery, and the coast of South Africa. On one of those voyages a French privateer captured her, but Britannia was recaptured almost immediately. Between 1808 and 1816, the last year in which she is listed, she returned to operating as a London-based transport.

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