Christian Salvesen was a Scottish whaling, transport and logistics company with a long and varied history, employing 13,000 staff and operating in seven countries in western Europe. In December 2007, it was acquired by French listed transport group Norbert Dentressangle.

History

Salve Christian Frederik Salvesen (1827–1911) was born in

Mandal A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Christian Salvesen was the son of Norwegian merchant shipowner, Thomas Salvesen (1787–1853). In 1846, his older brother Johan Theodor Salvesen (1820–1865) had gone into the partnership of Turnbull, Salvesen and Company with George W. Turnbull and established an affiliate office in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The oldest brother, Carl Emil Salvesen (1816–1877) also moved to Leith but his role in the company is unclear. Christian Salvesen joined the partnership after migrating from Mandal in 1851. He lived and operated from 20 Charlotte Street in

(now known as Queen Charlotte Street). In 1868, Christian Salvesen, together with Wilhelm August Thams (1812–1884) founded the mining company Ørkedals Mining Company and bought a number of small mines around Løkken,

. In 1872, Christian Salvesen left the partnership and set up Christian Salvesen & Co., based in Leith. Initially, the company operated as shipping and forwarding agents,

shipbroker Shipbroking is a financial service, which forms part of the global shipping industry. Shipbrokers are specialist intermediaries/negotiators (i.e. brokers) between shipowners and charterers who use ships to transport cargo, or between buyers an ...

s and timber merchants. Christian Salvesen & Co. began buying steamers in the 1880s, and in 1886 started a line to

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

, with runs along the Norwegian coast. Salvesen harpoon, The Shore, Leith

In 1883, Christian Salvesen, delegated management of shipping operations to his eldest sons, Thomas and Frederick, who became partners in the firm. In the early 1900s, the company developed significant interests in

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

, initially in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

, and then in the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

. They established and operated from a base at

Leith Harbour Leith Harbour (), also known as Port Leith, was a whaling station on the northeast coast of South Georgia, established and operated by Christian Salvesen Ltd, Edinburgh. The station was in operation from 1909 until 1965. It was the largest ...

(named for Salvesen's base in Scotland) on the island of

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

, to the south east of the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

. During 1908, in partnership with

Christian Thams Christian Thams (9 September 1867 – 22 May 1948) was a Norwegian architect, industrialist, businessman and diplomat. Thams was also a founder and major shareholder of Société du Madal, a Norwegian company which operated coconut oil plantations ...

, Christian Salvesen also invested in the construction of the first electric railway from Løkken to

Thamshavn Thamshavn or Thamshamn is a small port village in the municipality of Orkland in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is the site of the port for the town of Orkanger and the ferrosilicon plant Elkem Thamshavn. It is located right along European route ...

in Norway in support of their mining interests. In the years 1950 to 1962, the whaling ships ''Southern Harvester'' and ''Southern Venturer'' belonged to the company. These ships were floating factories, and the core of a whaling expedition. Each expedition consisted of a floating factory as well as a team of whale catchers which were equipped with an onboard hangar which housed a

Westland Whirlwind (helicopter) The Westland Whirlwind helicopter was a British licence-built version of the U.S. Sikorsky S-55/H-19 Chickasaw. It primarily served with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm in anti-submarine and search and rescue roles. Design and development ...

which was used for whale spotting. One of the company's whale catchers, ''

Southern Actor ''Southern Actor'' is a former whale catcher, currently a museum ship based in Sandefjord, Norway and owned by Sandefjord Museum. It is the only whale catcher from the Modern Whaling Epoch still to be in its original working order. Over 100,000 ...

'', now lies at the whaling museum in

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

, Norway, and is preserved as a floating

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

. They ceased whaling in 1963 and ceased shipping in 1990, thereafter concentrating on road haulage. Grave of Christian Salvesen, Rosebank Cemetery

Grave of Christian Salvesen, Rosebank Cemetery

As the boom in whaling ended after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Salvesen moved into the

commercial trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

business and also bought a cold store in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

. It traded primarily in housebuilding, general food freezing and oil before moving back into the transport business by buying ''Swift Services''. Christian Salvesen's house stood at

Goldenacre Goldenacre is an area in Edinburgh, Scotland, lying on and to the south of the Ferry Road, and south of Trinity. Transport links The area is well-served for local transport, with six bus services provided by Lothian Buses. Destinations includ ...

in Edinburgh, on Ferry Road opposite Inverleith Row, and closing the vista along that road. A huge villa from around 1865 set in extensive gardens, it was demolished in the 1960s and replaced by Edinburgh's tax office, that in turn was demolished in the early 21st century, and is now a housing site. His offices were on the south side of Bernard Street, Leith, in a building that doubled as the Norwegian Consulate for Edinburgh (now a Chinese restaurant). He is buried in Rosebank Cemetery on Pilrig Street in Leith.

Family

Salvesen was married to Amalie Georgine Salome Andorsen (1828 to 1901), and their children included

Edward Theodore Salvesen The Hon. Edward Theodore Salvesen, Lord Salvesen (20 July 1857 – 23 February 1942) was a Scottish lawyer, politician and judge who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice. Life Edward Theodore Salvesen was the son of Christian Frede ...

(Lord Salvesen) and Theodore Salvesen. Their grandchildren included

Harold Salvesen Captain Harold Keith Salvesen (30 July 1897 – 1 February 1970) was a British businessman of Norwegian descent, who taught economics at the University of Oxford before becoming a partner in the family whaling and shipping firm Christian Sal ...

. He was uncle to

Henry Adolph Salvesen Henry Adolph Salvesen FRSE DL JP (5 June 1860–13 May 1924) was a 19th-century Scottish mechanical engineer and naval architect of Norwegian descent. Life He was born at Weedingshall in Polmont near Falkirk on 5 June 1860 one of at least ...

Philanthropy

Christian Salvesen's whaling ships brought the first penguins back to Edinburgh and donated them to

Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo, formerly the Scottish National Zoological Park, is an non-profit zoological park in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The land lies on the south facing slopes of Corstorphine Hill, from which it provides extensive v ...

. Edinburgh therefore became the first zoo in the world to house and breed penguins. The Salvesen family lost many sons and nephews during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Partly as a result of this they built several memorial housing developments, most on Scottish Veterans' Garden City principles: * 29 Earl Haig Gardens inscription

Earl Haig Gardens (1925) off East

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

Road in

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. For injured and retired army personnel. with memorial tablets over the doors to Salvesen family members and others killed in the conflict such as 2nd Lt Edward Maxwell Salvesen and 2nd Lt Eric Thomas Somervell Salveson. *Salvesen Gardens (1948) in

Muirhouse Muirhouse is a housing estate in the north of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Location The housing estate of Muirhouse (Pennywell and Muirhouse) is bounded by Muirhouse Parkway to the North, Pennywell Road to the East, Ferry Road to the So ...

, Edinburgh, for army personnel. *Salvesen Crescent also in Muirhouse, for retired

lighthouse keepers A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

(who played a big part in the survival of their fleet).

Post whaling

Salvesens left the whaling industry in 1963, thus ending whaling in Scotland, and reinvented itself as a major European transport and logistics company. In 1985, the company went public as a diversified industrial group, with interests in shipping, brick manufacture, housebuilding, cold storage and distribution, rock and roll lighting hire (Light and Sound Design Ltd, now part of PRG inc.), theatre and television lighting manufacture (Lumo Lighting, was part of Lee Colortran International ) and generator hire. As a public company, the business focussed on European logistics, buying Swift Transport Services in October 1993. The non logistics businesses were sold during this period. Salvesen have had mixed fortunes since the beginning of the 1990s. A potential takeover by

Hays plc Hays plc is a British multinational company providing recruitment and human resources services across 33 countries globally. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The company was found ...

in August 1996, which could have valued the shares in the 350–400 pence range, did not result in a formal offer. This did however lead to the spin off of the

generator Generator may refer to: * Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. * Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...

hire business,

Aggreko Aggreko is a global supplier of mobile and modular power, temperature control equipment and energy services, headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. The business was founded in 1962 and previously listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1997 to 20 ...

in March 1997, and the arrival of a new Chief Executive, Edward Roderick, who led the business until his sacking in May 2004. During this period, a Swedish investor AB Custos discussed buying the company, and yet again no formal offer was issued to

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

s. This was in July 2000. In October 2004, a merger was proposed with TDG plc, but this apparently failed because of the pre merger positioning of key executives from both companies. On 2 October 2007, the board recommended a cash offer by Norbert Dentressangle for £254.4 million to buy Christian Salvesen. The takeover was completed on 14 December that year.''Christian Salvesen Plc Acquired by Norbert Dentressangle'' (Transport Intelligence)
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References

Other sources

* Somner, Graeme (1984) ''From 70 North to 70 South: A history of the Christian Salvesen fleet'' (Christian Salvesen Ltd) *Elliot, Gerald (1998) ''Whaling Enterprise: Salvesen in the Antarctic'' (Michael Russell Publishing Ltd) * Salvesen, Edward Theodore (1949) ''Memoirs of Lord Salvesen'' (W. & R. Chambers) *Watson, Nigel (1996) ''The story of Christian Salvesen, 1846-1996'' (London: James & James Ltd.) *Vamplew, Wray (1975) ''Salvesen of Leith'' (Scottish Academic Press) {{ISBN, 0-7011-2037-1 Transport operators of Scotland Whaling in Scotland 1872 establishments in Scotland 2007 disestablishments in Scotland British companies established in 1872 British companies disestablished in 2007 Companies based in Edinburgh Leith Whaling firms Multinational companies Logistics companies of the United Kingdom Construction and civil engineering companies of Scotland Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1872 British people in whaling

History

Family

Philanthropy

Post whaling

See also

References

Other sources