The History of the White Star Line
The White Star Line was originally founded by John Pilkington and Henry Threlfall Wilson in Liverpool. In 1867 the company went bankrupt and in 1868 Thomas Henry Ismay bought the company for £1,000. Ismay’s intention when purchasing the company was to build a fleet that would challenge the competitor Cunard and Inman lines. One of Ismay’s main supporters was Gustav Christian Schwabe who had an interest in the construction of ships as well as maritime trade. Schwabe also encouraged the partnership between his nephew, Gustav Wilhelm Wolff, and Edward James Harland. These two would found Harland and Wolff in 1861 with a shipyard located in Queen’s Island. Gustav Schwabe then persuaded Ismay to give the construction contracts of his vessels to Harland and Wolff and he would provide the money to make Ismay’s vision come true. White Star Line’s first vessel, the Oceanic, would set sail in 1871 (Barratt, 2010).
Thomas Ismay died on November 30, 1899 and was succeeded by his son Joseph Bruce Ismay. Thomas Ismay’s last act as the president of White Star line was to commission the building of the Oceanic II. It was decided to focus on the quality of experience passengers would have. This focus would attract more first and second class passengers, but the ship would still have the capacity to carry more third class passengers than before. It would be bigger and more impressive. Four years before Thomas Ismay’s death, Sir Edward Harland died and was replaced by Lord William James Pirrie at Harland and Wolff (Barratt, 2010).
After the replacements of both Thomas Ismay and Sir Edward Harland, White Star line realized that it would be hard to maintain the family founded shipping company without outside financial support. This support would come from America with the creation of the International Mercantile Marine Company, IMM Co., in 1902. It was established by Clement Griscom, owner of the American line and Red Star line, John Ellerman, owner of the Leyland line, Bernard Baker, owner of the Atlantic Transport line, and J. Bruce Ismay. The Dominion line, which was British-based, was also purchased at the same time. Monetary backing came from John Pierpoint Morgan who was behind General Electric, the U.S. Steel Corporation, and the J.P. Morgan and company financial house. The individual lines would be able to keep their names but were now owned by the IMM Co. Griscom was the first president of the IMM Co. but in 1904 J. Bruce Ismay was appointed due to pressure from the shareholders of the White Star line. The British government as well as the Cunard line was concerned about the White Star line being under American control, so the government granted subsidies to Cunard to build the Lusitania and Mauritania. With the funding from J.P. Morgan the White Star line had a chance to rebuild its dominance and between 1901 and 1907 it built the Big Four, the Celtic, Cedric, Baltic, and Adriatic, proving that the company’s intention was to do just that (Barratt, 2010).
The picture at the top of the page is the White Star line's logo ("White Star Line," White Star Line logo).
Thomas Ismay died on November 30, 1899 and was succeeded by his son Joseph Bruce Ismay. Thomas Ismay’s last act as the president of White Star line was to commission the building of the Oceanic II. It was decided to focus on the quality of experience passengers would have. This focus would attract more first and second class passengers, but the ship would still have the capacity to carry more third class passengers than before. It would be bigger and more impressive. Four years before Thomas Ismay’s death, Sir Edward Harland died and was replaced by Lord William James Pirrie at Harland and Wolff (Barratt, 2010).
After the replacements of both Thomas Ismay and Sir Edward Harland, White Star line realized that it would be hard to maintain the family founded shipping company without outside financial support. This support would come from America with the creation of the International Mercantile Marine Company, IMM Co., in 1902. It was established by Clement Griscom, owner of the American line and Red Star line, John Ellerman, owner of the Leyland line, Bernard Baker, owner of the Atlantic Transport line, and J. Bruce Ismay. The Dominion line, which was British-based, was also purchased at the same time. Monetary backing came from John Pierpoint Morgan who was behind General Electric, the U.S. Steel Corporation, and the J.P. Morgan and company financial house. The individual lines would be able to keep their names but were now owned by the IMM Co. Griscom was the first president of the IMM Co. but in 1904 J. Bruce Ismay was appointed due to pressure from the shareholders of the White Star line. The British government as well as the Cunard line was concerned about the White Star line being under American control, so the government granted subsidies to Cunard to build the Lusitania and Mauritania. With the funding from J.P. Morgan the White Star line had a chance to rebuild its dominance and between 1901 and 1907 it built the Big Four, the Celtic, Cedric, Baltic, and Adriatic, proving that the company’s intention was to do just that (Barratt, 2010).
The picture at the top of the page is the White Star line's logo ("White Star Line," White Star Line logo).