Arthur Anderson (1792,

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

– 27 February 1868,

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 ...

) was a Scottish businessman and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician. He was co-founder of the

Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company P&O (in full, The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) is a British shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century. Formerly a public company, it was sold to DP World in March 2006 for £3.9 billion. DP World c ...

(P&O).

Career

He was born at Böd of Gremista, in

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

, and as a boy worked on the beach preparing fish. The Crown attempted to press gang Anderson but

Bressay Bressay ( sco, Bressa) is a populated island in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland. Geography and geology Bressay lies due south of Whalsay, west of the Isle of Noss, and north of Mousa. With an area of , it is the fifth-largest island in Shet ...

man Thomas Bolt persuaded the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

to wait until he had finished his apprenticeship before his

impressment Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...

in 1808. Anderson was discharged 10 years later in Plymouth. Like many

men, he was left destitute 600 miles from home after his service to King and country during the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. Anderson moved to

and eventually became a clerk in the London shipping and insurance firm of

Brodie McGhie Willcox Brodie McGhie Willcox (1786–1862) was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) and the co-founder of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, one of the United Kingdom's largest shipping businesses. Career Having established himself ...

where he became a partner in 1822 and the firm was renamed Wilcox and Anderson. They developed the shipping business between Britain and the

Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, at one stage shipping guns and the British Legion to fight

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

conservatives and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Carlists during their internal wars of the 1830s. They followed this with a regular steamship service in 1830, called the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company, which became in 1837 the Peninsular and Orient (P&O). Despite cash crises, it expanded operations to Egypt (1840), India (1842),

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

(1845) and

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 ...

(1852), supported by government mail contracts. Anderson had a thrusting entrepreneurial character and by his death in 1868 P&O had the largest commercial fleet of steamships in the world. He moved to

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

, and was Chairman of P&O from 1854 until his death. Other chairs included the coal transport company the Union Steam Ship Company (which he created in 1853 to supply his P&O line ships with fuel) and the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

Co. He served as a

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

Liberal MP for the Orkney and Shetland constituency from 1847 to 1852. He also founded the ''

Shetland Journal Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

(1835)'', the

Shetland Fishery Company Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

Vaila Vaila (Old Norse: "Valey") is an island in Shetland, Scotland, lying south of the Westland peninsula of the Shetland Mainland. It has an area of , and is at its highest point.Haswell-Smith, Hamish. (2004) The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canong ...

, and encouraged fish exports to Spain and business between

and the UK mainland. After

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's coronation in 1838, Anderson gave her some Shetland lace articles. The queen subsequently bought twelve pairs of lace stockings which led to a significant increase in sales of Shetland lace. He endowe
Lower Norwood Working Men's Institute
the Anderson Educational Institute in 1862 (later known as the Anderson High School) and a home for the widows of fishermen in Shetland. He was buried at

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of L ...

. His nephew James Anderson, who worked in P&O, was married to the medical pioneer

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (9 June 1836 – 17 December 1917) was an English physician and suffragist. She was the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon. She was the co-founder of the first hospital staffed by women, ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Shetland his home
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Arthur 1792 births 1868 deaths Royal Navy sailors Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Orkney and Shetland 19th-century Scottish businesspeople Scottish newspaper editors Burials at West Norwood Cemetery UK MPs 1847–1852 Scottish company founders Scottish businesspeople in shipping People from Lerwick