Hail Britannia! (episode 305)

Transcript

Introduction

Jake:
[0:04] Welcome to Hub History where we go far beyond the Freedom Trail to share our favorite stories from the history of Boston, the hub of the universe. This is episode 305, Hail Britannia. Hi, I’m Jake. This week, I’m talking about the Cunard line which made its American home port in Boston starting with the arrival of its flagship Britannia in 1840.

Jake:
[0:29] Cunard’s new ocean going steamers made transatlantic voyages faster and more reliable than they’d ever been before. Boston was chosen as the American terminus for the Cunard Line because of its proximity to Britain. And because company founder Samuel Cunard had lived in Boston briefly and I was familiar with the city. But competition with New York for the company’s business was always fierce while the Cunard line was established to carry news between the US and Britain. Its arrival in Boston also had a major impact on the city’s news business because Boston was the first port of call in North America for these Cunard steamers that became the center for the distribution of European news in the United States. This advantage would only last a few years. However, until new technology allowed the news and eventually the Cunard Line as a whole to bypass Boston entirely. But before we talk about the Cunard Line, I just wanna pause and say a big thank you to everyone who supports Hub History on Patreon. Hub History is currently closing in on our eighth podcast anniversary. And personally, I’m proud of what we’ve created as a completely independent production without the support of any company or any history organization.

Jake:
[1:43] Our success has been thanks in no small part to our sponsors. We’re listeners, just like you. Your support means that I don’t have to stress over how to pay for transcription service, media hosting and all the other expenses that go into making a podcast.

Jake:
[1:59] Instead, I only have to stress over writing a 10 to 20 page script every couple of weeks recording it and then editing out all the bad parts should be a piece of cake. Right? To everyone who’s already supporting the show. Thank you. And if you’re not yet supporting the show and you’d like to start, it’s easy. Just go to patreon.com/hub History or visit hubor.com and click on the support us link and thanks again to all our new and returning sponsors. Now it’s time for this week’s main topic.

Jake:
[2:33] In the show notes this week, the header image is a picture of a ship. You should be able to see it in your podcast app depending on what app you use. The version I shared is an 1876 reprint, but the original was published in 1844.

Jake:
[2:49] It shows an early ocean going steamship pushing back from a pier. The vessel still has the sleek lines of a sailing ship and the three masts of a bark are a full rigged ship, but she also has a large paddle wheel mounted at her side of midships. Behind the paddle wheel are 13 cannon ports making her capable of carrying 26 guns in wartime. A single smokestack sticks up through the decks topped with a dark ring around the top up above the sails are furled but a forest of flags and pennants trail from the masts and the British naval ensign flies at her stern. The ship’s backing slowly out of its berth and turning into a narrow channel in the ice covered water. While horse drawn slaves race across the ice and well dressed men wave and raise their hats and salute, across the harbor is Long wharf with a clo of beel hall poking up from behind the warehouses along the docks and the statehouse dome emerging between steeples and roof lines at the top of Beacon Hill.

The Impact of Cunard Mail Ships

Jake:
[3:49] The angle means that the fewest from East Boston at the Cunard Wharf. And the caption identifies the side wheeler as the Cunard Royal mail steamship Britannia John Hewitt commander as she appeared leaving her dock at East Boston, February 3rd 1844 bound from Boston to Liverpool, dedicated by the publishers to the merchants of Boston who projected and paid for a canal cut in the ice seven miles long and 100 ft wide, to learn why the Cunard Mail ships were such a big deal in Boston in 1844 and why they needed a seven mile canal cut through the ice. We have to back up a few years to a time when transatlantic mail was a crapshoot at best.

Jake:
[4:34] If you’ve ever spent time with the Adams Papers of the mass historical society, you know that John and Abigail Adams exchanged a staggering number of letters during the years when they were separated. When John was in Philadelphia for the Continental Congress. The couple would often write multiple letters that mostly duplicated each other in case British troops or spies intercepted one of them, in the years when John was in Europe as a diplomat for our newly independent nation. They continued this habit though they no longer had to worry about enemy troops intercepting their mail. Instead their letters are peppered through with comments that I’m sending this letter with captain. So and so or this letter goes by the ship such and such, they would often send multiple versions of the same letter with different ships. Because even in peacetime transatlantic voyages were unpredictable. In the age of sail, the crossing could take weeks or months, depending on the weather and a ship bound for one port might easily call first in a different city or even a different country if that’s where the winds were blowing this week.

Jake:
[5:40] By the 18 thirties. The business of carrying mail between Great Britain and her former colonies in North America belonged to the Royal Navy. A series of packet ships are operated by the Navy carrying civilian mail and official diplomatic messages between the nations as official naval vessels. These packets carried no cargo other than mail and no passengers, other than government officials. These ships were more reliable than the private vessels. The Adamses committed their letters to a few decades earlier and that they could be counted on to arrive in the port they’d been dispatched to and were unlikely to become the victims of piracy, but they were still at the mercy of the Atlantic winds and weather. With a note in the MH S description of the engraving of the Britannia, pointing out that, prior to the introduction of steam power sailing vessels plied the Atlantic carrying passengers, freight and mail and completing three or so round trips per year dependent on the vagaries of wind and weather. A single steamship. According to William Fowler, in his book, steam Titans could easily complete a dozen or so round trips in a year. A distinct advantage. The first steamships crossed the Atlantic in the 18 teens though the age of sail was far from over.

Jake:
[6:58] In fact, even as the Britannia was being cut out of the ice in 1844 Donald Mackay was about to open a shipyard just a few blocks away from the Cunard Wharf in East Boston where he would build the greatest sailing ships the world had ever seen. You can learn more about mckay’s East Boston Clippers in our interview with author Stephen Ya Fuso. Way back in episode 89 sail and steam would coexist until well into the 20th century with steam winning in all weather, reliability and sail winning on range and speed.

Jake:
[7:31] The North Atlantic was relatively narrow and a steamship could carry all the coal it needed for the crossing while the Clippers dominated the China trade by not needing to carry enough coal for around the world voyage, nor setting up coaling stations across the Pacific as the US and other governments would a few decades later. However, when the British paddle wheel steamer, the Great Western started regular service between Bristol and New York. In 1838 the writing was on the wall for the sailing packets of the Royal Navy. I should just point out that a packet in this context means a ship that sails back and forth between two defined ports on a defined schedule. A company history of the Cunard Line written in 1886 notes, up to the year 1838 the Lords commissioners of the admiralty who at the time were invested with the arrangement of the postal contracts had been content to commit her Majesty’s mails for America to the uncertain mercies of sailing vessels bearing the somewhat unpromising designation of Coffin Briggs. Early in the spring, the wooden paddle wheel steamer Great Western sailed from Bristol for New York, which so impressed the government with the obvious superiority of steamships over sailing vessels as a faster and more reliable means of transit for postal matter that they forthwith issued circulars broadcast, inviting tenders for future conveyance of the American males by steam vessel.

Jake:
[8:59] The owners of the Great Western submitted a tender or a bid as we call it today for the mail contract. As did the Saint George Steam Packet Company. Both these bids were rejected by the British Admiralty as not being able to start mail service in a reasonable time frame. Luckily, there was another bidder though he technically didn’t submit his proposal until the deadline had long passed. Good thing that he was an old friend of the government official in charge of selecting a contractor. Samuel Cunard was a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, whose father had been a Pennsylvania loyalist before the revolution. The family had owned a small fleet of ships but they were seized by the patriots, after the British surrender. The Cunard moved to Halifax and eventually came to own enormous tracts of timber which they then leveraged into a shipbuilding business. They built two of the earliest steam ferries in Canada. Then they branched out into running steam mail service between Halifax, Bermuda and Boston, Cunard’s impressive shipworks and experience in operating a steam mail packet convinced the admiralty to accept his bid. He’d have exclusive rights to carry the royal mail for a term of seven years for which he’d be paid £55,000 per year to operate three ships. This was quickly revised to 81,000 pounds yearly to operate four ships and to guarantee that they would leave port on their scheduled departure dates.

Jake:
[10:28] Boston was chosen as the American terminus of this new mail service. In part because we’re the closest major American port to Britain.

Boosting the Boston Economy

Jake:
[10:36] And in part because Samuel Cunard was already familiar with our harbor, having lived here as a young man working for a Boston ship broker and later operating a steam packet to Bermuda from Boston.

Jake:
[10:49] Serving as the American terminus for this groundbreaking mail service would obviously be good for the Boston economy. So Cunard wasn’t shy about asking for favors where today Boston offers enormous tax breaks to companies from Amazon to Wayfair to Reebok to woo them to the city. Cunard demanded something more similar to the giant stadium at WDET Circle that Boston had the good sense not to build in order to woo the 2024 Olympics to the city.

Jake:
[11:17] The Boston Atlas reported on the request. What Cunard asks of the Bostonians is that they should provide him a wharf without charge at which his vessels may be safely moored while in this city. Such a war, if it is supposed will cost from 40 to $50,000. The committee appointed sometimes since for that purpose or taking measures, we believe to collect the necessary amount. We cannot have a doubt of their speedy success. It is not to be supposed that our merchants will hesitate a moment about securing to themselves the great advantages of a direct semimonthly steam packet communication with England. It was the establishment of regular lines of packets between New York and Liverpool that first led to the great concentration of the foreign trade in that city. We ought to improve the present opportunity of regaining our fair share of that trade. Mister Cunard’s line is to commence its trips on the first of May. Next in point of steamships, we shall then stand upon a par with New York. We shall have four and for some time to come, New York is not likely to have a greater number.

Jake:
[12:26] Unlike the tax breaks offered to businesses today, the burden of Samuel Cunard’s demand would be borne by private investors. On April 27th, 1839 the Montreal gazette reported on a meeting of prominent Boston businessmen the week before, they read a letter from Cunard asking for war facilities in Boston free of charge, of course and voted on seven resolutions. In response. The 4th and 5th of these were printed in the Gazan.

Jake:
[12:56] Resolved that it is of the highest importance to the success of this great enterprise that the larger class of steam packets should run entirely through from Liverpool to Boston and vice versa. Stopping sufficient time at Halifax for the reception of fuel and to receive and discharge passengers and freight. That this arrangement alone will inspire confidence in the safe and uninterrupted conveyance of passengers and goods and secure a liberal and ample patronage to the route. Resolved that it is the sense of this meeting that a suitable pier and dock should be provided for a term of years for the reception of the Liverpool steam packets in this port where they may receive and discharge their lading free of expense to their owners. And that such farther facilities be afforded as the importance of the subject may require those farther facilities that the merchants of the city would need to afford included railroads.

Jake:
[13:52] By the 18 thirties, it was clear to anyone who paid attention that railroads were gonna be one of the primary drivers of the 19th century economy. New York had the mighty Hudson river. And by 1825 the Erie Canal linked its port to the Great Lakes and the vast agricultural and mineral resources of the upper Midwest, Boston didn’t have those natural advantages. But by 1835 it had railroads linking the city with Lowell Providence and Worcester with projects underway that would stretch the rail network to Albany Montreal and eventually a nationwide network. In an editorial published October 5th. 1839 the Springfield Republican was bullish on the prospect of steam packets and rail networks to link Western Mass to the global market. Writing now that the railroad is in operation to Boston, we presume the merchants of Springfield and vicinity will find it in their interest and convenience to go to that market. We see no reason why the importers and jobbers of Boston cannot deal on as good terms as those of New York for domestic goods. Boston is unquestionably the first market in the country and for European dry goods and groceries, we know no reason why it should be inferior. Cunard’s Liverpool and Halifax steam packet line which commences in the spring will place Boston at least on a par with New York in regard to foreign news and commercial transactions.

Jake:
[15:21] The mode of doing business in Boston, we should think would be more acceptable to merchants in this region. We say to our merchants try the Boston market.

Jake:
[15:32] Boston’s waterfront had been fully developed for over a century. However, there was simply no space to build a pier and dock and farther facilities like a rail line amongst the existing wharves in downtown Boston, luckily. However, Boston was in the middle of a project that dramatically increased the size of its waterfront across the harbor from Boston’s downtown Wharves. The East Boston company had quietly bought up almost all the land on Noddles Island and Hog Island, which were the site of the battle we talked about back in episode 186.

Jake:
[16:05] Until the 18 thirties, these islands have been mostly used for grazing. But now the company laid out a street grid filled the low areas between the islands and began selling house lots, industrial tracts and wharf sites. In 1834 a large sugar refinery opened in the new neighborhood. And by 1835 there were 10 wharfs in operation in 1838. The first section of the eastern railroad opened connecting the East Boston waterfront to Salem and extending eventually to Portland Maine. By 1843 the new Atlantic Steam Packet Pier which was later known as the Cunard Wharf was built at the foot of Orleans Street in East Boston, immediately next to the eastern railroads wharf and only about a block and a half from the ferry wharf that connected the new neighborhood with downtown Boston. A series of sidings were built from the eastern railroad. Today’s East Boston Greenway directly under the piers, allowing cargo to be offloaded from the steamers directly under rail cars that could take it anywhere in New England. While the nearby ferry brought workers to the docks and then carried local mail to the downtown post office. A June 1840 article in the Boston Traveler gives us a sense of the grand scale of this new facility provided at no cost. With a 20 year lease.

Jake:
[17:28] They have built a bridge extending 800 ft from the mainland with a cross wharf 230 ft by 50 to which are connected two piers, 250 ft long by 50 broad forming an extensive dock having 15 ft of water at the lowest tides and furnishing a perfect shelter from all gales. On the outside of the piers, there will be good berths for vessels of heavy draft. On one side of these piers, the company have erected a warehouse 100 by 30 ft perfectly fireproof from without and on the other pier, buildings are to be put up for the deposit of fuel for the steamships.

Jake:
[18:08] While the merchants of East Boston were building suitable wharf facilities. Shipyards in Scotland were busy constructing four steamers to the specifications laid out by Samuel Cunard and his partners. A corporate history commissioned in 1886 describes the new Cunard fleet. The first four steamships provided by the Cunard company or as it was then formally entitled the British and North American Royal mail steam packet company were the Britannia, Acadia, Caledonia and Colombia. All wooden paddle wheel vessels built respectively on the Clyde in 1840 by R. Duncan J wood, sea wood and R steel and supplied with common side lever engines by Robert Napier. The Britannia which was the pioneer vessel of the fleet measured 207 ft long, 34 ft four inches broad and 22 ft six inches deep with a tonnage burden of 1154 and an indicated horsepower of 740. Her cargo capacity was 225 tons and she was fitted for the accommodation of 100 15 cabin passengers but no steerage, the horse power and passenger and cargo accommodation of the other three ships were identical with those of the Britannia while their dimensions in tonnage only varied very slightly from hers. Their average speed was 8.5 knots per hour on a coal consumption of 38 tons per day.

Jake:
[19:37] I’ll just interject that. I grew up in a house where my family heated with coal and our entire three bedroom home burned through only about 4 to 6 tons per winter. 38 tons a day is a lot of coal. Another company history, this one from 1931 describes the opulence of the flagship of this new fleet. She carried three masts rigged for and aft with two square cross yards and her four and main masts, she was fitted to carry 115 cabin passengers and 225 tons of cargo, on her upper deck were officers cabins. The galley, a bakery and strange to relate her cow houses on the main deck were two dining saloons and passengers accommodations, suffice it to say here that she was of a magnificence for those days comparable to that of the Aquitania today. And what was more important, she was equal to the task of conquering by regular uninterrupted service. Year after year, the world’s stormiest ocean which had up until then taken its toll of lives for granted.

Jake:
[20:50] Bradford Hudson phd describes the Britannia of 2015 article on Cunard for the Boston Hospitality Review. The vessel resembled a clipper ship with a wood hull 207 ft in length and three masts for sails, two of which were square rigged. The ship was also equipped with steam engines fueled by coal which powered two enormous paddle wheels amid ships. It had a single funnel or smoke stack which was painted a bright red with a black band at the top to conceal the soot. Finally, the first Cunard ship steamed into Boston Harbor on June 3rd 1840 with the Boston Atlas reporting, American and British flags were hoisted on the city hall and thrown to the breeze from the masts of vessels in the harbor and from numerous elevated points along the wharves. And at East Boston, captain Sturgis gave the steamer a gallant salute from the revenue cutter as she approached the city and the people echoed every peal of the cannon with enthusiastic shouts louder than even the roar of the artillery itself.

Jake:
[21:56] On the return of the steamer from the Navy yard, she was once more saluted by the cutter Hamilton and the cannon planted on the Cunard Wharf in East Boston now began to pour forth their thunder in grand style, cannon were also fired from the heights above the wharf. And for nearly a half an hour, there was one continued roar of artillery mingled with the shouts of thousands of citizens and the animating sounds of martial music. The harbor presented at one time a dense mass of smoke which had proceeded partly from the cannon and partly from the steam vessels and ferry boats.

Jake:
[22:32] The Cunard Wharf in East Boston, as well as the wharves on this side of the water was crowded with a dense mass of eager Spectators. A Flagstaff had been erected on each side of the dock which the steamer was to enter, one of which bore the American and the other, the British flag, as the unicorn turned toward the Cunard Wharf, the brass field pieces gave her a deep mouthed and hearty welcome and each discharge of the cannon was again echoed by the people.

The Arrival of the Unicorn

Jake:
[23:02] You’ll note from that description that it was not the Britannia or another of the new steamers that arrived in Boston that day. But rather the unicorn, this much smaller steamship was destined to be used for mail service along the Saint Lawrence river to Montreal. But first, it was dispatched to Boston to lay the groundwork for the inauguration of scheduled mail service. A few weeks later, the Boston traveler included a detailed description of this smaller ship which was no less opulent than the transatlantic steamers that would follow.

Jake:
[23:33] I went on board and after the usual interchange of good feeling with the commander, I descended to the saloon and I imagined on my entrance that I was about to be ushered into the audience chamber of the Chinese Mandarin. The saloon is about 40 by 50 ft including four state rooms on each side. The panels of the doors and sides are filled in with splendid specimens of Chinese scenery, games, et cetera, beautifully adorned with gilt frames. The woodwork and furniture is of solid rosewood, highly polished and on each side of the entrance is a sideboard richly set out with a service of silver plate belonging to the ship. The state rooms are very airy and commodious containing from 2 to 4 berths in each with all necessary comforts attached. And editors note that necessary comforts in this context means a bathroom.

Jake:
[24:27] The ladies cabin is forward of the saloon and contains 10 berths connected with another state room containing four berths. I made inquiry in relation to her machinery and obtained the following information. She has two engines of 360 horsepower with three boilers, 25 ft long, 9 ft four inches deep worked separately so that in case an accident should happen to one of them, she could still be propelled with but little delay, the diameter of her cylinder is 60 inches length of stroke, 5 ft, 10 inches pressure of steam, six pounds to the inch.

Jake:
[25:07] The greatest number of miles she performed per hour during their recent voyage was 12 and three quarters. And notwithstanding, she encountered continual heavy seas. She was remarkably dry. She has three officers, three engineers and 40 men.

Jake:
[25:24] There was a Cunard on the unicorn when it arrived in Boston Harbor, but not company founder Samuel. Instead his son, Edward Cunard was on board charged with overseeing the final preparations for the commencement of regular transatlantic mail service. Chief. Among these duties was planning a grand banquet to be held when his father arrived on the company flagship. But first he’d have to make it through his own banquet at Daniel Hall. Dr Hudson’s 2015 article on Cunard for the Boston hospitality review notes, the welcome celebration for unicorn was impressive with thousands of people turning out to view the arrival. A few days later, the mayor hosted a banquet for the ship’s captain and several 100 guests. The latter included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who opined steamships, the pillars of fire by night and cloud by day, which guide the wanderer over the sea.

Jake:
[26:23] Meanwhile, the postmaster of Boston started publishing this notice in the local papers on July 20th, notice is hereby given that mails for Liverpool England and for Halifax, Nova Scotia will be dispatched from this office by the royal steam mail packet Britannia on the morning of Saturday, the first day of August. Next letters arriving here by the southern mails of that morning will be included, all letters forwarded from other places. For the above mail must be postpaid to Boston where they will be mailed without any further charge. Signed Nathaniel Green postmaster.

Jake:
[27:02] An editorial in the Boston Daily Advertiser promoted the party that was planned for the arrival of the Britannia first to the Cunard mail packets expected in Boston. It’s gratifying to see that the complimentary dinner to Mr Cunard has been undertaken without any regard to party considerations. All ranks including some of our most eminent politicians of both sides are ready and glad to join with their brother citizens in preparing for the entertainment. It will be a proud day for the friends of public improvement throughout the land.

Jake:
[27:36] A few names jumped out at me from the committee, hosting the party attorney David Stoddard Greenow, the third prominent merchant Elias Hasket Derby, Junior, merchant Robert Gould Shaw being the grandfather of the union colonel and Josiah Quincy junior, president of the Boston Common Council and later the mayor of Boston, the Boston Post of July 18th. Also listed the invited guests for the party, the governors of New York and the New England states. The mayors of Albany, Troy Hudson, Salem Lowell and Boston, the presidents of the railroads, the postmaster and the collector of the city, the British and other Consuls and Mister Webster are invited to attend and many other distinguished persons from various parts of the Union are expected to be present.

Jake:
[28:27] The public was invited to attend as well provided they are willing to purchase a ticket. That is the venue for this massive party was the Maverick Hotel built in 1835 to serve travelers on the eastern railroad and the newly constructed wharves. This hotel was the largest and most opulent structure in what’s now Maverick Square. However, even the hotel wasn’t big enough for the planned party with the same edition of the post describing a new pavilion that was being constructed to accommodate the celebration.

Jake:
[29:00] Its length is nearly 200 ft and its breadth about 100. The pavilion is immediately in front of the Maverick House and its roof is connected with the hotel in such a manner as to include all the front rooms and Piazzas. The arrangement of the tables is such to afford all who may be seated at them an opportunity to witness the ceremonies of the occasion. On the west side of the pavilion, elevated seats are to be constructed for Mr Cunard, the president and vice presidents of the day and the Committee of Arrangements and a gallery is to be erected on the east side for the musicians, opposite the center seats. The names of Fulton Wotton Cunard are to be inscribed in large letters and in front of the musicians gallery. The name of the steamer unicorn be placed at each end of the pavilion, the names of the Britannia, Caledonia, Arcadia and Colombia, which will constitute the line of steamers between this city, Halifax and Liverpool are to be inscribed. The names of those cities will be placed in conspicuous parts of the Pavilion as well as many appropriate devices and sentiments. The pavilion will be decorated with evergreens, banners and the flags of all nations in the evening is to be brilliantly illuminated by very colored lamps.

Welcoming the Britannia

Jake:
[30:20] The moment finally arrived on July 19th, 1840 with the Boston post reporting, the British and American Royal mail steam packet Britannia only 14 days from Liverpool arrived at this port on Saturday evening. At nine o’clock, she left Liverpool on the fourth of July at half past two o’clock pm from Liverpool Dock. The Britannia made land in Nova Scotia in 11 days and 16 hours head winds all the way. She went at the rate of 270 miles in 24 hours. She was detained at Halifax only seven hours and accomplished her package from that port to Boston in 36 hours as the Britannia entered our harbor and approached the city. She was saluted from Cunard Wharf, East Boston Point, Long wharf, South Boston and from the cutter Hamilton lying in the stream brilliantly illuminated as was also the Maverick House. The band on board the Columbia struck up God save the Queen on the Britannia’s passing her. She hauled into her berth at Cunard Wharf, East Boston about 10 o’clock where she was received with loud and continued huzzahs amid a splendid display of fireworks.

Jake:
[31:39] The pleasure of our citizens was very great in welcoming this noble ship to their shores and the immense multitudes which passed over to East Boston and crowded to the wharves evinced a degree of interest we have seldom seen excelled here. The grand feat to be given Mister Cunard tomorrow with East Boston will be a splendid compliment.

The Grand Celebration at East Boston

Jake:
[31:59] One worthy of the liberal hospitality of Bostonians.

Jake:
[32:06] The Britannia had cabin space to accommodate 115 passengers. But on this maiden voyage, she carried just 63 passengers to the crew of 89. About 20 disembarked at Halifax with the remainder continuing on to Boston. A Cunard company history from 1931 describes them as American consuls returning on leave, army officers, merchants, traveling on business and families of substance that had escorted their daughters over to attend French schools.

Jake:
[32:39] The Boston Post also noted that the Britannia had collided with a schooner in the narrows in the outer harbor causing considerable damage to both vessels.

Jake:
[32:50] The Britannia was expected to be repaired in time to depart Boston on August 1st as scheduled on the evening of July 21st. It seemed like all of Boston descended on the Maverick Hotel in East Boston with the post reporting clear and unusually cool for the season. The day was a delightful one and long before the sun had arrived at its meridian, there was a general gathering of the people.

Jake:
[33:17] Crowds after crowds poured down to the ferries and as fast as the ferry steamers came into the dock, they were filled with foot passengers eager to be at East Boston at the commencement of the ceremonies, others in carriages and on horseback, crossed over to Chelsea or passing the bridges winded their way over Mount Bellingham to the Maverick House here. Those who had no immediate part to take in the festival assembled for the double purpose of seeing the new steamship and the new pavilion. And while hundreds went to the Cunard Wharf, an equal number to say the least entered or surrounded the hotel, they occupied the halls and staircases. They blocked up passageways and they stood not only in the cupolas, but at one moment, it is said, literally covered the roof winced. The Britannia, the revenue cutter and the United States ships gaily decked out in flags and signals in a word. Nearly the whole harbor city shipping and surrounding country together with countless groups of well dressed persons in the steam ferry boats and upon the land were to be seen at a glance and under circumstances that could not fail to excite the admiration of the Spectators.

Jake:
[34:29] A parade of about 2000 dignitaries led those Spectators to the Maverick and then invited guests and ticket holders crowded into the pavilion inside. They feasted on meat, fish, pastries and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Then they were served cakes and pies along with pyramids of fresh ice cream, a real treat in the days before artificial refrigeration as the dishes were being cleared away, Josiah Quincy Rose and addressed the crowd saying in part, friends and fellow citizens, the arrival of the first of a regular line of steam packets between Old and New England forms an era in our history.

Jake:
[35:12] The days of old which we did not expect to see again when a direct communication between the continents was through. Our city are returning like the morning star, New England first arose on this horizon in the meridian splendor of her country’s greatness though undimmed, she has been unobserved. No broad and navigable river connects her with the inexhaustible riches of the West. Cities more favored by nature form the communication between those lands in Europe, New England seemed forever excluded from the full advantages of commercial intercourse by rocks impassable and mountains huge the mountains divide us from the West. But through the mighty chain, one passageway was left wide enough to admit, not too steep to prevent the application of the newly discovered means of locomotion.

Jake:
[36:06] The opportunity was given the opportunity has been improved. Not many months will elapse before we shall again reassemble in a scene like this to celebrate our immediate union with the mighty West.

Jake:
[36:19] We have once more a place in that chain. The enlightened foresight of Mr Cunard, a citizen of Nova Scotia, aided by the liberality of the British Crown has established a line of steam packets on a permanent basis, not depending on the success of a mercantile speculation, but guaranteed by the permanent interests of England. A great good has been conferred upon us without our exertions in advancing the interests of his own country. He has conferred incidentally a benefit on ours. The active and enterprising merchants of Boston would tender their admiration and sympathy for his congenial virtues and all sorts and conditions of men among us, of every political faith and every religious creed have assembled together here to bid him a hearty welcome to our native land, in behalf of every individual in this whole assembly. I propose health, prosperity and happiness to Mister Cunard. May he meet the success he deserves and the honors that are his due from both continents which he has brought so nearly together, Samuel Cunard then rose and said a few words, very few by all accounts. Then the British Consul and other dignitaries and finally, the public was invited to propose a toast.

Jake:
[37:39] Dozens of volunteers rose and drank to the health of Mister Cunard to the lasting peace with Britain to the people of Liverpool and the power of steam. And on and on until Quincy finally had to cut things short with the post reporting, Colonel Quincy who presided in a very happy manner here stated that the volunteers crowded in upon him so fast that it would be impossible to get through them without encroaching upon the night. And at his suggestion, the meeting adjourned to the anticipated opening of the railroad to Albany, by which Boston is to be united to the Great West and the company then broke up. That being a little before eight o’clock, everyone appearing to be entirely satisfied with the entertainment.

Jake:
[38:25] While Boston celebrated Steve Dors and longshoremen got to work on loading the Britannia along with about 45 passengers, the cows and chickens that provided many of their meals and the cats who kept the rat population on board at bay. The ship was carrying 600 tons of coal to Boston. The most important cargo, however, was the mail. I couldn’t find any information about whether parcels and packages were accepted on that first trip and if so what the postage rates were like, but it’s a bit astonishing that letters who cross the Atlantic at no cost beyond the normal postage to Boston. As Postmaster Green had advertised a few weeks before, letters that were postpaid to Boston would be forwarded at no additional charge. With that announcement, letters flooded in from all over the country to take advantage of the first fast and reliable mail service to Europe by August. The Boston post office was able to receive 12,000 letters from a Cunard steamer sort them and have them ready for forwarding to their recipients in five hours. Pretty impressive. This mail coming from Europe also created a surprising bonus cargo and one that didn’t really take up any space in the hold from day one. Cunard steamers also delivered the European news to Boston and that would prove to be an unanticipated boon for the American news business.

Jake:
[39:53] Right next to the story about the Britannia arriving in Boston Harbor. The Boston Post carried dozens of stories that were reprinted from the English papers. The European news was only about two weeks old and stories from further a field weren’t that much older. They printed an article about an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria, one of debates in parliament and a notice about a spike in applications for transport to Australia after the collapse of the local economy in Birmingham, crucially, the post could now report on up to date commodity prices in the London market with corn, sugar and cotton, all American exports leading the headlines.

Jake:
[40:35] News was forwarded from China from late March and from India from late May with a story about American merchants in China preparing for an expected outbreak of war between local forces and British marines, from India came the news that Russian troops had invaded what’s today, Pakistan and Afghanistan. While news of Russia’s attempts to suppress a rebellion in the occupied caucus region came from the European papers in North Africa. France was fighting against insurgents in Algeria while Spain had successfully crushed an insurgency in the Basque region in Prussia where King Frederick Wilhelm the third had died only weeks before on June 7th. The post reported on Frederick Wilhelm the fourth succession of the throne and the internal changes that he made in the cabinet in Grimmer news. It also reported on a near pogrom that it occurred in a small town near Berlin when a Jewish merchant was accused of murdering his gentile employee in order to mix the gentiles blood and a passover cake batter. A classic example of the ancient blood libel against the Jews. The militia had been called out on June 21st to break up a mob that seemed bent on vigilante justice and thanks to the Britannia, that news was received in Boston just four weeks later.

A Changing Fashion Scene

Jake:
[41:56] Not everything in the news was so serious with one story on an attempt to close the London Zoo on Sundays and another reassuring readers that Prince Albert had not shaved off his mustache. There was even coverage of the latest fashion trends in London and Paris. As a side note, I’ll just apologize in advance for all the pronunciations you’re about to hear.

Jake:
[42:20] There is but little variation in the make of dresses. The corsages cut in v continue in favor with the sleeves moderately full though tight sleeves are not without their advocates in Paris and a kind of double sleeve has been introduced. Flounces for Demi toilets evening are negligees but by a are often preferred to flounces or bullions. Redding goats are made with crossing bodies and Muslins are often full aller, trimmed with a broad lace and acient of wide riba or taffeta scarf with long fringed ends encircling the waist with naud in front and ends reaching to the feet. Many new Pleines and Cavo have appeared this season in Paris. Some buttoning up close to the throat. The bajo Colts also button to the throat terminating in a very small collar of square or rounded corners which turns over a cravat or velvet riband. The collar is a little open in front and trimmed with lace which descends the habit shirt as a frill being delicately embroidered above the lace.

The Birth of a News Broker

Jake:
[43:31] Crafty entrepreneurs anticipated that the new mail service would allow individual readers quicker access to European publications with the Boston Post reporting about a month before the Britannia arrived, Messrs Wilmer and Smith have opened an office at Liverpool for the purpose of receiving subscriptions for English newspapers and magazines which they will forward regularly by Mr Cunard steamers, through the medium of their expresses, they are enabled to forward those of the latest possible dates. The sudden influx of European news hadn’t really been anticipated. However, in a May 8th 1840 article about an engraving of the Cunard Lines, Caledonia that had been received in Boston, the Boston Post came the closest to predicting the impact of steam mail service on news gathering. Writing when these packets are once fairly started, Boston will become the depot of the latest European news, as we’ll see another technological development just a few years later, would vastly multiply Boston’s importance in reporting the news from Europe and beyond.

Jake:
[44:41] The Britannia steamed back out of Boston Harbor on August 1st 1840 right on schedule carrying American mail for Britain and 94 passengers. This inaugurated regular steam service between Boston and Liverpool with the Acadia, Caledonia and Colombia rotating with the Britannia. So one steamer or the other was setting sail from each port every two weeks. The Britannia returned on schedule in October and from the start of regular service, the average time to cross from Liverpool to Boston was set at about 14 days and 10 hours while sailing packets were still taking several weeks and couldn’t be reliably predicted.

Jake:
[45:23] While the mighty Hudson river and her extension, the Erie canal made New York Harbor, the natural center of trade and shipping. Boston’s exclusive relationship with the Cunard Line and our location at least a full day’s voyage closer to England allowed the city to at least temporarily claw back the glory it had held in the colonial days as America’s most important port. This fact was grudgingly acknowledged in the pages of the New York Herald on August 27th, 1840 the establishment of Cunard’s Line will there can be no doubt be a great benefit to Boston. And there is no boasting in saying so the gratification of Bostonians is just in the proportion that they imagine this enterprise will detract from the importance and business of New York. And the idea that New York is hereafter to be as dependent on Boston for the latest foreign news as Boston is on New York elates them amazingly because of this shift in the city’s relative fortunes. New Yorkers started a whisper campaign stating that Boston was not a suitable destination for the Cunard steamers.

Jake:
[46:32] They said that its location between Cape Ann and Cape Cod made the risk of a shipwreck too high and indeed the Britannia did run aground on a sand bar off Cape Cod on a subsequent voyage, but it was able to free itself at high tide with no damage. They also said that Boston was too far north and thus too vulnerable to nor’easter that might shut the port in the winter months. The New York Herald ran a version of this story in its financial reporting in November 1840 heading into the Cunard Line’s first winner.

Winter Preparations and Concerns

Jake:
[47:05] It is stated that Cunard’s line of steamers will during the winter run into Portsmouth, New Hampshire. On account of the difficulty of making Boston Harbor in foul weather, the railroad will take the news to Boston without much delay but the arrangement will make some difference in the prospects of both cities.

Jake:
[47:25] Portsmouth had a reputation as the only New England port that never iced over in the winter. Though even before climate change, Boston Harbor only froze over, vanishingly rarely. Portsmouth was a backup plan at best as the Boston Post wanted everyone to know just a few days after that article ran in the New York Herald.

Jake:
[47:46] We have seen it stated in the New York papers recently that the Cunard steamers were about to discontinue their trips to this port for the winter at least and that they would hereafter stop at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We understand that this is not the case. The ships will continue running to this port as long as it remains open, which will probably be the entire season. A deposit of coal is to be made at Portsmouth. However, to be in readiness, in case any obstruction in our harbor should make it necessary for any of the steamers to stop there. Although there is not much reason to suppose that a resort to it will be necessary as predicted. Boston Harbor stayed open throughout the winter of 1840 to 1841. And by February 1st business was so good that there was talk of increasing service from fortnightly to weekly with the Boston post reporting weekly steamers. The business between this port in England has increased so rapidly and the route from Liverpool to Boston being so much more preferable and expeditious than that to New York. Mr Cunard is determined we understand to establish a weekly line of steamers to ply between the two continents. The new ships will be better calculated for the conveyance of freight than the present ones. And hereafter Boston must become the great importing emporium of the nation.

Peaceful Resolution on the Oregon Question

Jake:
[49:07] New York is a pleasant village for a country residents.

Jake:
[49:12] By the summer of 1841 New York’s own steamer fleet led by the Great Western was catching up with the abilities of the Cunard Line. They can make a crossing from Liverpool to New York in 15 days. But Boston was just a physically shorter trip. Cunard’s monopoly on mail and Boston’s ability to publish the latest European news a day or two earlier than New York meant that Boston still held on to its place of importance, that prominence relied on Cunard’s reputation for reliability and that’s what was brought into question when Boston Harbor finally did freeze over. In 1844 the Britannia had arrived in Boston on January 21st as part of Cunard’s now weekly service. It was scheduled to leave again on February 1st.

Battling the Winter Freeze

Jake:
[50:00] However, while she was being restocked and reloaded for the return journey, a cold snap, the likes of which hadn’t been felt in decades descended on New England. The Fall River monitor reported the severe cold during the present winter is stated to have been more extensive in this country than at any former period within the last century. Not a river bay or harbor in the northern and western states has not been blockaded with ice. Always accepting Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which it is said never was frozen.

Jake:
[50:33] Even so far south as Virginia, the Norfolk Papers state that navigation is seriously obstructed by ice here. The thermometer has been six degrees below zero at Boston 11 below in New Hampshire at 27 and in Canada 40 below zero.

Jake:
[50:52] The Springfield Weekly Republican echoed this report and noted that the interruption of mail service didn’t only impact communication with Europe but also affected domestic mail that was usually sent up and down the east coast by ship.

Disruption in Shipping and Communication

Jake:
[51:06] The cold weather is extended in all directions and all along the coast. The harbors of Boston, Portland, New Haven, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore are closed by ice. Navigation of Long Island Sound has been stopped and the expresses and mails have been transferred to the land route via Springfield. The sudden disruption in shipping drove up prices for flour, beef, grain and poultry and it had New Yorkers sharpening their rhetorical knives in preparation for arguing that the Cunard should come to their harbor if the Britannia should miss her departure date from ours.

Jake:
[51:44] The Merchants of Boston weren’t going to let anything jeopardize their new commercial prominence. And the 1931 Cunard Company history relates ordinarily such a circumstance would have involved a delay until the passage out should become easier. But the merchants of Boston had written into their credo, the doctrine of the infallibility of the Cunard schedule. The Britannia a quarter of the boast that they flung at New York should not be delayed through any fault of Boston. They appointed a committee including Benjamin Rich Caleb Curtis and Samuel Quincy names still remembered in Boston to determine a way to save the situation.

Jake:
[52:25] The committee decided that the only solution was to raise money for cutting a canal through the ice. When they made known to the city, the gravity of the crisis, the citizens promptly agreed that even such an unusual act of providence should never be permitted to interfere with their beloved steamships. And a large amount of money was immediately subscribed. A contract was made for cutting a canal from East Boston to India wharf for $1500. And another thence to open sea work commenced immediately on the Britannia’s originally scheduled February 1st departure day. With the next day’s Boston Atlas reporting during the whole of Thursday, our harbor presented a scene of unusual liveliness and gayety. Besides the large number of men employed in cutting out the passage, the surface of the ice was thronged by thousands. Some viewing the operations of the workmen, some amusing themselves in skating, some enjoying the novelty of perambulating on the harbor and others regaling themselves with a sleigh ride on the ice. The appearance of such a vast number of our citizens walking and riding safely over the whole extent of our ample harbor was certainly a very unaccustomed at the same time that it was a very interesting spectacle.

Jake:
[53:45] The journal of last evening thus describes the manner in which the ice is removed. A channel of about 60 ft in width is first marked out which is then divided into blocks of about 30 ft square. The sections marked are then plowed by which the ice is cut nearly down to the water.

Jake:
[54:04] The plow used for this purpose is formed to seven different plowshares perfectly flat and very sharp which are arranged in a row nearly similar to what is called a cultivator.

Clearing a Path Through the Ice

Jake:
[54:16] After plowing the ice is sawed. So as to detach the cakes entirely from each other, after which two grapnels are attached to the cakes and they are hauled under the stationary ice by a gang of about 150 men, some 15 or 20 men standing on the cake in order to sink it sufficiently to make it pass under the blocks of ice on one side only are thus disposed of, thus forming a channel of 30 ft in width. The blocks on the other side are detached after this channel has been finished and will float out to sea with the ebb tide. The ice is from 6 to 8 inches in thickness in the upper harbor.

Jake:
[54:57] You can learn a lot more about cutting ice in New England in episode 211 about the ice King, Frederick Tudor. I’ll include some illustrations from that episode in the show notes this week so that you can see what an ice plow looked like and how it was used to score and cut large blocks of ice, not needing to pack the ice after cutting for shipping to the tropics or for storing until summer sped up the process. So the Britannia was free of the ice by Saturday, February 3rd, just two days behind schedule, worrying that even a slight delay might convince the company to shift its American port to New York. Boston merchants armed the ship’s captain with the 19th century equivalent of a student’s tardy note with the Liberator reporting. The channel was completely opened on Saturday forenoon and the steamer Britannia whose regular day of departure was Thursday left on Saturday. We understand that the captain took letters from the mayor of Boston and others fully explaining the extraordinary causes of her detention and exonerating the commander from all blame. This delay had allowed more letters to pour into Boston by rail with the Pittsfield Sun reporting that, she had 54 passengers and the largest mail ever carried across the Atlantic containing over 30,000 letters.

Jake:
[56:22] This record setting cargo was cheered out of the inner harbor and down toward the narrows in Boston Light by hundreds of people who took advantage of the hard freeze to see Boston Harbor as they never had before. The 1931 Cunard Company history describes the scene throngs of cheering people follow her out along the ice. Some in sleighs and some in sailing boats fitted up with long blades of iron like skates by means of which they are urged rapidly along by their sails. Not only before the wind, but even with a side wind tacking and beating to windward as if they were in water, the Britannia released from her bonds reached Liverpool in 15 days so that no alarm had been occasioned by the delay. And when the British Post Office Department offered to defray the expense of the ice channel, the citizens of Boston declined to be reimbursed.

Jake:
[57:18] Six years after Boston found itself more or less by accident, acting as the news broker for the nation, a new invention would temporarily make her role all the more important while also setting the stage for the city’s downfall in the news business and her eventual loss of the Cunard Line. Altogether. A brief story in the Springfield Daily Republican of June 27th, 1846 notes, the New York Sun announces that the magnetic telegraph line between Boston and New York was completed on Tuesday afternoon. So far as the knowledge of any important news and the transaction of business by messages are concerned, the places connected by the above lines are the same as if in the heart of each other. For information can be carried from one to the other of them. With the instantaneous rapidity of thought, how incomprehensible and wonderful is the idea and yet how simple in its principle and practice is the operation. When explained and understood.

The Role of Telegraph in News Dissemination

Jake:
[58:20] In his book, The Nation’s News brokers. The formative years from pre telegraph to 1865 Richard Allen Schwartz Los describes how the Cunard steamers and the New Telegraph lines combined to reinforce Boston’s role in the news dissemination business. The New York to Boston Telegraph Line opened on June 27th, 1846 linking New York’s papers with the landing site of Cunard steamers and the all important foreign news reports.

Jake:
[58:50] The arrival of the Britannia on July 4th caused no change in the paper’s handling of steamer news. Each ran messengers and compiled individualized summaries of foreign news from the steamer’s mail and newspapers as had been the practice for several years. Two weeks later, the Cambria was the next Cunard arrival at Boston. And on July 18th, 1846 all three New York papers studied carried identical brief first a telegraphic summaries of the Cambria news. In fact, one source notes that this was the first common telegraphic dispatch of steamer news and that this dispatch appeared not only in New York City, but also in Boston and Philadelphia.

Jake:
[59:34] So on the sixth anniversary of the Britannia’s first arrival in Boston, which made Boston the national clearinghouse for Fresh European news. European news from the Cambria would make Boston the home of the first news wire service. The New York Post pointed out that the Cambria reached its East Boston wharf late in the day on July 17th. After the last train for New York, it departed. So in the past, it would have been too late for the European news to appear in New York papers on the 18th.

Jake:
[1:00:06] Now though the headline in the New York Herald on the 18th said another link in the lightning line complete flashes from Boston.

Lightning Lines of Communication

Jake:
[1:00:17] And the first piece of news before anything from Europe was the news gathering method itself. There was a bright brilliant flash of lightning over the telegraphic line from Boston yesterday afternoon. Indeed, there was a succession of flashes that beautifully lit up nearly every newspaper office in this city. The first flash announced that the steamship Cambria was off Boston. The next informed us that she was safely moored at the wharf and the next that she brought some highly important intelligence. It appears that the Cambria sailed from Liverpool on the fourth while we are celebrating the day in the midst of a shower. Our advices are from Liverpool of the fourth, from London of the third, from Paris of the first and so on.

Jake:
[1:01:05] Among the news items delivered via the Cambria by telegraph were stories about the British Parliament’s votes on the Corn Bill and the Irish Coercion Bill as well as the sudden resignation of the Queen’s cabinet. There are updates on the price of cotton and sugar futures as well as an announcement that Pious the ninth had been selected as the new Pope of the Roman Catholic church. One diplomatic node provides a nice bit of symmetry throughout the years. Leading up to the founding of the Cunard Line, the US and Britain seemed to be on the verge of war over our northeastern boundary. The border between Maine and New Brunswick had been left ambiguous by the treaty that ended our revolutionary war and the British occupation of much of Maine during the war of 1812 proved that we had unfinished business. Both nations granted deeds to land in the contested Saint John’s River valley. In the 18 twenties, both sides cut timber in the disputed territory and both nations demanded tax payments from the local residents. Finally, in the 18 thirties, both nations sent troops to the area and it looked like war might soon break out.

Jake:
[1:02:17] Some of the very earliest news stories carried by Cunard steamers explained British perspectives on the conflict. And in some small way, the New Cunard Line may have helped to stave off violence by building partnership and understanding between the nations. In the years before the Webster Ashburton treaty set a final boundary in 1842.

Tensions Over the Oregon Country

Jake:
[1:02:37] Now, six years after the Cunard Line was founded, Britain and the US seem to be edging close to war again with the conflict this time centered around our northwestern border and the Oregon country, as we discussed back in episode 2, 33 the region had been claimed by Spain, Russia and Britain. Before the Boston based ship Colombia navigated the river that’s now named after it, establishing a US claim on the region.

Jake:
[1:03:03] Russia and Spain both eventually relinquished their claims on the area. And in 1818, the US and, and in 1818, the US and Britain agreed to a policy of joint occupancy in the region in the 18 forties. However, American settlers were pouring into the Columbia Valley over the Oregon trail in record numbers leading to tension with the Hudson’s Bay Company Factor headquartered at Fort Vancouver. Some Americans adopted the slogan, 5440 or fight, meaning that they would support a war if it set the border at 54 degrees and 40 minutes north, the limit of Russian territory in today’s Alaska.

Jake:
[1:03:44] Among the news wired to New York and the inaugural message in July 1846 was this excerpt from the London Chronicle of June 30th. The Oregon question is settled. The announcement of the peaceful upshot of a tempestuous negotiation has been received with acclamation throughout the states. The more reasonable views of the moderate men have prevailed. The exaggeration of patriotism has subsided. Truth has won for itself. A majority commerce is finding its way to its usual channels and simultaneously with the absence of all fear of any threatened interruption the great organic change that has taken place in the tariff of Great Britain is in a fair way of taking its full development under the favoring conditions of peace with all the world. We say peace with all the world because it has only been from the small cloud in the west that the calamities of war, half of late threatened England. This has now blown over.

Jake:
[1:04:45] Sir Robert Peel last night, announced the terms to be as follows, the boundary to be the 49th parallel Great Britain to have free navigation of the Columbia River during the charter of the Hudson’s Bay Company which expires in 1863 and its recharter if one should be granted, the whole of Vancouver’s Island, the right through the strait of Juan de Fuca to be common to both parties. Any British settlements south of 49 degrees are to be purchased at a fair valuation by the United States government at any time where they think it’s desirable to possess them while the British government stipulates to do the same by American property north of 49 degrees if there be any.

Delivering News of Peace

Jake:
[1:05:28] So, once again, the Cunard steamers had delivered news of peace between the nations. They served. Unfortunately, even the early development of the news wire service in Boston contained the seeds of its own destruction. Boston had become a news broker with the first voyage of the Britannia since European news arrived here at least a day sooner than New York and it cemented this role with its connection to the vast media empires of New York by telegraph, it only makes sense that the further development of international telegraph lines would mean that the news would soon bypass Boston entirely Cape Race in the far flung corner of Newfoundland was more than a full day closer to Europe than Boston. So once the Canadian Island was connected by wire to New York, Boston’s decade as a news clearing house was over. The Cunard Company history notes. Later in the 18 fifties, the New York Herald made arrangements with the Cunard ships and with the Inman Line for them to throw off a Cape race, a tin watertight canister containing the latest news. This would be picked up by a small boat from shore and the news telegraphed to the paper.

Jake:
[1:06:42] The loss of the news business was just one more nail in the coffin for regular Cunard service to Boston. Doctor Bradford Hudson’s article for the Boston hospitality review explains.

Shifting Operations to New York

Jake:
[1:06:55] Two related events occurred during 1847. The Great Western Company failed resulting in the sale of the Great Western to a new firm. That same year, the initial term of the contract between the British government and Cunard expired. Cunard perceived an opportunity and arranged for the contract renewal to include the conveyance of mail to New York City. The steamship Hibernia was the first Cunard liner to arrive at New York. In 1847 Cunard was soon operating a second flotilla and weekly service between Liverpool and New York, Edward Cunard who’d been managing all operations in the United States from an office in Boston moved his headquarters to New York. The strategy was immensely successful in 1848 customs duty collections for cargo conveyed aboard Cunard vessels in Boston were about three times those in New York. Only two years later, the proportion had reversed. The focus of Cunard operations in the United States had permanently shifted from Boston to New York. The people of Boston maintained their enthusiasm for Cunard but the company had its own priorities driven by business results.

Jake:
[1:08:11] The biweekly service between Liverpool and Boston was suspended on several occasions during the last quarter of the 19th century due to weaker and consistent demand. When Cunard founded his company, there are about 3000 miles of railroad track in the United States. 50 years later, there were more than 150,000 miles of track in active use. As a result, it became increasingly feasible and affordable to quickly move cargo or passengers from coastal ports to distant points inland even destinations near Boston could not be reached effectively from New York by rail transfer.

Jake:
[1:08:49] Cunard’s service to Boston was suspended during the first world war as many of the company’s ships were converted to troop carriers.

Service Interruption During Wars

Jake:
[1:08:58] Two of the Cunard dedicated to Boston service were sunk by U boats.

Jake:
[1:09:03] Service was restored in 1922 and then suspended again for the same reasons during world war two. This time service was not restored when peace returned before long airliners mostly replaced steamships for transatlantic passengers. Cunard shifted its focus to pleasure cruises today. There’s little to be found in the Great Cunard Line that made Boston its first American port and docked East Boston for a century at 126 state street across from the Custom House Tower. The granite building that was once home to Edward. Cunard’s office remains with the inscription Cunard building over the front door across the harbor. You’ll find a Cunard tavern on Orleans Street in East Boston just steps away from the old Cunard Wharf. The restaurant takes some design cues from the neighborhood’s ocean going heritage. If you walk from there down marginal street to Pierce Park, you’ll be blessed with some of the best views of downtown Boston’s waterfront from the tip of the restored pier that juts out into the water. If you can tear your eyes away from the skyline, look to your right. The abandoned decaying pier next door is all that remains of the Grand Cunard Wharf.

Jake:
[1:10:24] As I write this wrap up, it’s July 3rd and just today, the globe reported that the trustees of reservations are abandoning a plan to convert the parcel into a climate resilient green space.

The Fate of the Cunard Wharf

Jake:
[1:10:36] The initial design called for a five acre park with tide pools, a salt marsh, a pocket beach kayak, rentals and access for fishing in the face of costs that ballooned up to $55 million. The organization was forced to scale back to two acres and then one and now with updated sea level projections, putting the site underwater before long, they’re putting the project on hold indefinitely.

Jake:
[1:11:05] To learn more about the Cunard line in Boston. Check out this week’s show notes at hubor.com/three 05. There will be links to all the sources I used this week including Cunard Company Histories from 1886 in 1931. Bradford Hudson’s history of the Cunard for the Boston Hospitality Review, Richard Allen Schwartz Loss’s book, The Nation’s News brokers and dozens of news articles from New York and Massachusetts Papers. I’ll have maps of East Boston from 1879 and 1892 showing exactly where the Cunard Wharf was as well as an 1885 map showing Cunard’s routes to New York and Boston. I’ll include a couple of postcard views of the Cunard Wharf from the early 20th century as well as pictures of some late 19th century Cunard steamers. I’ll link to the original color lithograph of the Britannia being freed from the ice in 1844. That’s rare today because Cunard boosters bought them all up and destroyed them. So people wouldn’t doubt Boston’s suitability for the mail service. Plus, I’ll have the 1876 reproduction image that I talked about in the episode. I’ll also throw in some pictures from our episode on the Ice King. So you can see the equipment that was used to free the Britannia.

Jake:
[1:12:27] There are also several stories related to the Cunard Line that didn’t make the cut for this week’s episode. So I’ll have links to those as well to Charles Dickens account of his first voyage to America on the Britannia in 1842, to a complaint by bigots in 1848 that Frederick Douglass was allowed to dine with other passengers on the Cambria, and a rescue at sea affected by the crew of the Cunard’s Batavia steamer in the middle of an Atlantic gale in 1873. While Mark Twain happened to be on board. If you’d like to get in touch with us, you can email podcast at hubor.com. We are Hub history on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and still most active on Twitter. If you’re on Mastodon, you can find me as at hub history at better dot Boston, but I don’t really post there very much or just go to hubor.com and click on

Stay Connected and Subscribe

Jake:
[1:13:23] the contact us link while you’re on the site. Hit the subscribe blank and be sure that you never miss an episode. If you subscribe on Apple podcasts, please consider writing us a brief review. If you do drop me a line now, I’ll send you a hobby sticker as a token of appreciation.

Jake:
[1:13:43] That’s all for now. Stay safe out there. Listeners.