Southern Whaling and Sealing Company
| Subsidiary of Unilever, Christian Salvesen Ltd | |
| Industry | Whaling |
| Successor | Palm Line in 1949 |
| Founded | 1911 |
| Defunct | 1941 |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
|
Area served
|
United Kingdom, Southern Atlantic |
|
Key people
|
George Driver Irvin Esq (Managing Director) |
| Parent | Christian Salvesen Ltd |
The Southern Whaling and Sealing Company Ltd were a United Kingdom-based whaling and sealing company, originally formed in 1911 by the partnership of Richard Irvin & Sons of North Shields and the South African based fishing company Irvin & Johnson. Latterly they were sold to Lever Bros., in 1919 and re-sold to Christian Salvesen Ltd in 1941.
Richard Irvin was born in North Shields in 1853, entering the fishing trade in 1864 at age 11. He quickly saw the potential growth of trawl fishing.
Richard Irvin & Sons had already established the Shields Engineering Co and, after purchasing Youngs Dock Co., merged them to become Shields Engineering & Dry Dock Co. Latterly they then became involved in the herring drifting fishery around the same time as steam powered drifters began to be used in NE England and Scotland. The East Coast Herring Drifter Co. was set up in 1900 followed soon after by the Shields Ice & Cold Storage Co. Ltd.
In 1902, Richard's second eldest son, George Driver Irvin was sent to South Africa to investigate the fishing potential there where George established The African Fishing & Trading Co. in 1903, with offices in Cape Town & North Shields.
However, the African Fishing & Trading Co. was not profitable and only continued to operate after a merger with another South African fishing company owned by Swedish pioneer Carl Ossian Johnson (1867-1949) in 1909. This merger subsequently lead to the establishment of the firm, Irvin & Johnson in Dec 1910.
In July 1911 Richard Irvin & Sons were granted a licence to engage in whaling from Prince Olaf Harbour in South Georgia, and in partnership with Irvin & Johnson, formed a new company, The Southern Whaling & Sealing Company Ltd (SWSC). George Driver Irvin was made Managing Director.
During 1911 they bought the Sound of Jura, to be used as a cargo transporter, and also purchased a second hand ship, the Restitution.
The shipbuilding firm of Smith's Dock Co., Middlesbrough were commissioned to construct two steel 92 ft. diesel-powered whale catchers as well as fit a diesel auxiliary in the Sound of Jura. However, the diesel engine proved to be unreliable and felt to be too noisy in scaring off the whales, so was replaced by a steam engine.
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Wikipedia