Duncan Dunbar (1803–1862) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

businessman and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based shipowner who established what was described as the largest shipping line in

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. He was also the first chairman and founder of the

London Chartered Bank of Australia The London Chartered Bank of Australia (from 1893 the London Bank of Australia) was an English-run Australian bank which operated from 1852 to 1921. History It was formed in October 1852, with the issuing of a prospectus and granting of a Royal ...

Early life

Duncan was born on 8 September 1803 at 7 Fore Street, Limehouse, Middlesex. His father Duncan Dunbar senior had moved to London in the 1790s and founded a successful business as a brewer and wine merchant. He settled in

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throug ...

in the 1790s, establishing his alcohol business at Dunbar wharf. Duncan junior was 22 when his father died in 1825 and inherited the business with his brother John.

Business

Duncan junior possessed the largest sailing fleet in the world in the mid-19th century. Most of his fleets were built in his own shipyard in

Moulmein Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...

, Burma. He also founded the London Chartered Bank of Australia in 1852. He died at his home at Porchester Terrace,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

on 6 March 1862. Duncan left £1,500,000 in his will. All 39 of his ships were sold within two years of his death.

References

1803 births 1862 deaths 19th-century English businesspeople {{England-business-bio-stub