The Enderby firm was founded by Samuel Enderby (1720-1797), who was originally apprenticed as a cooper, later setting up his own business in Lower Thames Street, London. He married the daughter of his master, Charles Buxton, an oil cooper and merchant, and subsequently became a ship owner. Later he moved Samuel Enderby & Sons, oil merchants, to Paul's Wharf, Thames Street, and there the firm remained until 1830. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Enderby vessels made profitable voyages to both northern and southern whaling and sealing grounds. After the death of Samuel Enderby Jnr. (1756-1829), the business was inherited by the founder's grandsons, Charles, Henry and George. In 1830, they moved premises to Great St Helens in the City of London.
Charles Enderby encouraged masters to report geographical discoveries and had notable successes with John Biscoe and John Balleny, who between them discovered Enderby Land, Graham Land, the Balleny Islands and the Sabrina Coast. An Enderby captain, Abraham Bristow, had discovered the Auckland Islands in 1806, naming one of the islands Enderby Island. However, by the mid-nineteenth century, the firm's profits were in decline following losses made by the exploring expeditions, and the destruction of the firm's Greenwich rope-making factory by fire in 1845. Whaling vessels, too, required expensive strengthening in order to withstand impact by ice in the Southern Ocean.
Looking for a way to revive the firm's fortunes, Charles sought government backing to establish a whaling station on the Auckland Islands. In 1849, the Southern Whale Fishery Company was established to manage the enterprise and Charles Enderby was appointed lieutenant governor of the islands. However, the colony and whaling station proved financially unsuccessful and the Enderby Settlement was dismantled and closed in 1852. This was the final straw for Messrs Enderby, the firm being liquidated in 1854.
From the guide to the Messrs Enderby collection, 1784-1823, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
