John T. Arundel
| John T. Arundel | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
John Thomas Arundel 1 September 1841 London, England |
| Died | 30 November 1919 (aged 78) Bournemouth, England |
| Other names | Aneru |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | guano and copra |
| Spouse(s) | Eliza Eleanor Whibley "Lillie" |
| Children | Lillian Arundel, Sydney Dorothy Aris |
| Parent(s) | John Arundel, merchant and shopkeeper |
| Relatives | Paternal grandfather, Rev. John Arundel, Home Secretary of the London Missionary Society 1820–1846 |
John T. Arundel (1 September 1841 – 30 November 1919) was an English entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of the mining of phosphate rock on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba (Ocean Island). Williams & Macdonald (1985) described J.T. Arundel as "a remarkable example of that mid-Victorian phenomenon, the upright, pious and adventurous Christian English businessman."
His father owned a gentleman's outfitter in the City of London and a warehouse business on the Thames estuary, with the family living at Gravesend. The family were active in the Congregational Church, and through a church connection he joined Houlder Brothers & Co., a firm that provided ships for migration to New Zealand and Australia.
In 1860, J.T. Arundel travelled on a Houlder Brothers & Co ship into the Pacific, calling at the Chincha Islands, on which guano was mined for refining into superphosphate. J.T. Arundel took an interest in the potential of the fertiliser business and in 1868 the company sent him on a second voyage into the Pacific to pursue opportunities.
When J.T. Arundel set off in 1871 to develop a business in the Pacific he left his fiancée Eliza Eleanor (Lillie) Whibley in England, as he wanted to secure their financial security by achieving success with his business ventures. J .T. Arundel and Lillie Whibley were not to marry until 1881. Following their marriage Lillie Arundel would travel into the central Pacific with J.T. Arundel when he would visit the various islands on which his company has operations. Lillie Arundel gave birth in 1884 to their second daughter while on Manra, then known as Sydney Island, giving her the name of that island.
In 1898 Fred Whibley, Lillie's younger brother, arrived in Sydney, after 10 years in the United States and Canada. J .T. Arundel offered Fred Whibley a position with John T. Arundel & Co. Fred Whibley declined and chose to become an island trader on Niutao in what is now Tuvalu. A harmonious working relationship would have been unlikely given the pious Christian attitudes of J.T. Arundel and Fred Whibley's reputation as the 'black sheep' of the family.
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