Jock Willis Shipping Line

John 'Old White Hat' Willis

John Willis & Sons of London, also called the Jock Willis Shipping Line, was a nineteenth century London-based ship owning firm. It owned a number of clippers including the Cutty Sark.[1]

John Willis & Sons
Private company
Industry Shipping
Founded 1830[2]
Founder John Willis, Senior
Headquarters London, Great Britain
Key people
 John Willis, Senior
John Willis, Junior
Products tea, wool

Company history and its people

The company was founded in London by John 'Jock' Willis (1791-1862), a ship captain (nicknamed 'Old Stormy Willis').[3] Jock Willis had joined ships sailing along the British coast after having run away from his home at Eyemouth, Berwickshire when he was 14 years old.[1] During one of his sailing voyages to London, he found employment at a pub frequented by seafarers in the New India Dock (now Canary Wharf). He saved the money earned there, supplemented by money earned by repairing seafarers' sea shanty musical instruments.[1] He returned to sail on the West Indiamen as a second and Chief Mate.[4]

Willis married Janet Dunbar on 23 July 1815,[1] and the couple had nine children, six sons and three daughters, of whom the eldest was also named John. In 1826, he started his own ship owning company, registered in London.[1]

The younger Jock Willis (1817-1899), himself a ship master, took over his father's firm of ship owners. Also known as 'White Hat Willis', it was during his time that the company built and owned clippers like the Cutty Sark.[5] The other sons, too, joined the company in various capacities – either sailing on their ships or working in their offices.

Trade

Their ships focused on the tea trade between China, the far east and United Kingdom and the wool trade with Australia.[1]

Ships

The first vessel purchased by John Willis was the 253 ton Sunderland-built barque Demarara Planter in 1830,[2] which sailed to the West Indies. Many of the ships later built by the firm were named after places in Willis's native county of Berwick.[2] Company ships included:

Motto

The company's motto, 'Where there's a will is a way' was a pun on the family name, and was painted at the stern of all Willis ships.[9][10]

1899 – The end

The company was dissolved in 1899, with the sale of the Cutty Sark.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Holden, Walter V.; McGiveron, Joan. John Willis and the "Cutty Sark" Tea Clipper. Eyemouth, United Kingdom: The Family history forum.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 John Willis & Sons (1830-1899). United Kingdom: Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Spectre, Peter. A Mariner's Miscellany. p. 21. ISBN 1574091956.
  4. ↑ Shewan, Andrew (31 Dec 1996). The Great Days of Sail: Reminiscences of a Tea-clipper Captain (New Edition - 1996 ed.). United Kingdom: Conway Classics - Conway Maritime Press Ltd. ISBN 085177699X. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "History of the Cutty Sark". rmg.co.uk. National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "Oil painting - Ship Portrait - Demerara Planter". bbc.co.uk. BBC (Arts - Paintings). Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  7. ↑ Bruzelius, Lars. "The Whiteadder". bruzelius.info. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Lubbock, Basil (1925). The log of the "Cutty Sark". Glasgow: J.Brown & Sons. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  9. ↑ Cruising World - Nautical History (Jan - Oct 2000 ed.).
  10. ↑ Bold, J.; Bradbeer, Charlotte; Merwe, P. Van der (May 31, 1999). Maritime Greenwich: A world heritage site : A guide. Great Britain: National Maritime Museum and Collins & Browne. p. 23. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
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