George William Blunt (11 Mar 1802 – 19 Apr 1878) was a pioneer publisher of

nautical chart A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land (topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the coa ...

s and books for the company E & G. W. Blunt. He was Secretary of the Board of Pilot Commissioners for

New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

from 1845 to 1877. For over 40 years he served as first assistant in the United States Coast Survey and made surveys of New York Harbor and the Bahama banks. He was instrumental in gaining reforms in the United States Lighthouse Service. His firm published many editions of Bowditch's ''Navigator'' and Blunt's ''American Coast Pilot''.

Personal life

He was born on March 14, 1802, in

Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...

, the son of the author

Edmund March Blunt Edmund March Blunt (June 20, 1770 – January 4, 1862) was an American navigator, author, and publisher of nautical magazines. He established a nautical book and chart publishing firm that became the largest publishing firm in the early 19th ce ...

. He married Martha Garsett on December 22, 1821. They had two daughters.

Nautical publisher

He and his brother, Edmund Blunt (1799-1866), went into business with their father,

, at ''E & G. W. Blunt Publishing'', a well known publishing house of marine works. He authored many books and charts. He wrote the ''Memoir of the dangers and ice in the North Atlantic Ocean'' (1845), ''The Way to Avoid the Centre of Our Violent Gales'' (1868), and ''Pilot Laws, Harbor and Quarantine Regulations of New York'' (1869). Blunt's books were provided to the

United States Hydrographic Office The United States Hydrographic Office prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation. The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy. It was transfe ...

. The firm closed in 1872 and sold the chart copyrights and plates to the Coast Survey and U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office.

Board of Pilot Commissioners

In 1845, Blunt was appointed to the Board of Pilot Commissioners and became Secretary of the Board. He helped to organized the pilot service for the New York Harbor. He was re-elected by the

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

to the New York Board of Pilot Commissioners from 1868 to 1870. A pilots' license was issued by the Board of Pilot Commissioners. By 1873, Blunt was President of the Board of Pilot Commissioners. Today the board is called the

Board of Commissioners of Pilots of the State of New York The Board of Commissioners of Pilots of The State Of New York is the New York state agency responsible for licensing and regulating pilots within one of the largest harbors in the world. It licenses and regulates up to 75 pilots of the Sandy Hook ...

. The pilot boat No. 11, George W. Blunt (1856) and its replacement in 1861 was named after him. The pilot boat ''Moses H. Grinnell'' was owned by George W. Blunt. It was built in 1850 and designed by George Steers. On September 25, 1845, Blunt signed a letter to the editor of the ''Washington Union,'' to insert a message in the paper, which said he was the true and only owner of the ''Nettle,'' of New York, built in 1884 at Boston, Massachusetts. Per enrollment at the port of Boston and on July 19, 1844, he became the owner of the ''Nettle,'' and that James Calahan was the master or commander.

Nautical School for the harbor of New York

In May 1869, Blunt became a trustee of the Nautical School for the harbor of New York. Its purpose was to educate boys in

seamanship Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, or practice of handling a ship or boat at sea." It involves topics a ...

and

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

. He was elected again in 1871 and in 1874. Ellwood Walter was also a trustee during this time and shared the same interest in seamanship and navigation.

Death

He died on April 19, 1878, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York, New York, and was buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York.Harper's Weekly, May 11, 1878, page 369.

References

External links

DEATH OF GEO. W. BLUNT

Dictionary of American naval fighting ships
Vol. 3, www.Worldcat.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Blunt, George W. 1802 births 1878 deaths Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery 18th-century publishers (people) American magazine publishers (people) Maritime pilotage 19th-century American businesspeople