James Underwood (4 September 1771 – 10 February 1844) was a noted

shipwright Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

, merchant businessman and

distiller Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heating ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Born in

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...

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 ...

, he was shipped to Australia as a

convicted felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

in 1790. He learned his trade in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, becoming joint owner of a merchant ship, ''Diana'' in 1799. He co-founded Kable & Underwood, along with

Henry Kable Henry Kable (1763–16 March 1846), born in Laxfield, Suffolk, England, was an Englishman transported to Australia in the First Fleet and became a prominent business man. Conviction and transport to Australia On 18 March 1783, Kable was convi ...

which was a merchant trading company, and utilised ''Diana'' for seal hunting in the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

. As his enterprise expanded, Underwood added

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

and

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

shipping to his business interests, increased the size of his fleet, and added

Simeon Lord Simeon Lord ( – 29 January 1840) was a pioneer merchant and a magistrate in Australia. He became a prominent trader in Sydney, buying and selling ship cargoes. Despite being an emancipist Lord was made a magistrate by Governor Lachlan Macq ...

as a business partner. He continued to build ships, including a 200 tonne ''King George'', and ''

Casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...

'' bought by the French explorer

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

. He became one of the leading figures of the fledgling sealing industry in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, employing over sixty men and bringing 30,000 skins annually. He returned to London to sell over 120,000 skins, and with the proceeds bought out his partner, Lord. On return to New South Wales he founded a coffee lounge, helped found the Commercial Society of Sydney and also joined the Standing Committee of the Emancipated Colonists of New South Wales. He became a leading merchant, and "one of the few merchants engaged in importing from Europe and India". He built a distillery with two more business partners whom he subsequently bought out. The proceeds of his expanding businesses funded a homestead said to be among "the three or four finest in Sydney". He returned to England to retire in 1840 and died four years later in

Tulse Hill Tulse Hill is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London that sits on Brockwell Park. It is approximately five miles from Charing Cross and is bordered by Brixton, Dulwich, Herne Hill, Streatham and West Norwood. History The ar ...

in south London. He was married twice, in 1812 and again in 1825 after the death of his first wife. He had seven children in total, two of whom died in infancy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Underwood, James 1771 births 1844 deaths People from Bermondsey Australian shipwrights Australian brewers Australian sailors Australian people in whaling Australian ship owners Convicts transported to Australia on the Third Fleet