The Nourse Line was a shipping company formed by Captain James Nourse in 1861. After taking delivery of his first ship, the ''Ganges'', in 1861, Nourse went on to build up one of the last great fleets of

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

Early life of James Nourse

James Nourse was born in

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

in 1828 and after serving the required time at sea obtained his Master’s Certificate in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1851 and was hired as captain on a ship owned by W.N. Lindsay of London. A year later, he joined Foley, Aikman & Company of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

as Master aboard Aberfoyle. Nourse served in the ship for three years before it caught fire. He then became the captain of the Tasmania until 1861.

Establishing the fleet

Nourse bought his first ship, the 839 ton iron hulled sailing vessel, ''Ganges'' in 1861, by buying 75% share in the ship bought from the ship builders Pile, Hay & Company of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. The ''Ganges'' sailed to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to trade between

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

where James Nourse made acquaintance with the owners of Sandbach, Tinne & Company who were importers and exporters, mainly concerned with sugar, coffee, rum, molasses and also trafficking in Melanesian labour. Nourse saw a future in these trades and relinquished his command of Ganges to concentrate on management. He went set up an office in London in 1864 and acquired full ownership of Ganges. James Nourse secured a contract with the Crown Agents for the Colonies, to provide service between India and

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. Once the contracts were secured James Nourse bought another ship and chartered a third.

Transporting Indian indentured labour

He then began transporting Indian indentured labourers to the West Indies. The general route for the fleet was to leave a

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an port with a cargo of

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

or railway iron for Calcutta. From there a cargo of

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

and indentured labourers were picked up for the West Indies, followed by a passage to the east coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

where grain or oil was loaded for Europe. Some ships sailed back direct to Calcutta from the West Indies with labourers who had completed their contract of employment. Other voyages were made from Calcutta to Mauritius or to the Fiji Islands with labour for the

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

plantations. Voyages to Fiji usually returned to Calcutta via Australia with cargoes of

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 Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

. Between 1866 and 1869 the company built four more ships with the transportation of indentured labourers in mind, which dictated that each one and a half registered tons equalled the carriage of one passenger, and later the space was measured in covered deck space. The medical requirements of those travelling was monitored by a Surgeon Superintendent, and food and water allowances by the ships

Purser A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...

and both Officers were paid a per capita grant for those successfully completing the voyage. Two further ships were acquired in 1872 and 1873 and in 1874 Nourse ordered a further five new ships. In the eighteen eighties, Nourse Line increased the size of its fleet by another fifteen vessels. The company continued to build sailing ships until well into the eighteen nineties when most other ship owners had made the transition to steam ships. His reasons were that he understood sailing ships and that they were economical for the trades in which they served. Nourse Line continued to purchase both new and second hand vessels.

After the death of James Nourse

James Nourse died in April 1897, and his executors C.A. Hampton (his main creditor) and E. Bromehead assumed control of both his affairs and the fleet. The ships continued to trade, as before, but on 19 February 1903 they became part of a limited liability company called James Nourse Ltd with C.A. Hampton as its first chairman.

Steam Ships

Nourse Line finally recognised the emergence of steam in May 1904 when it took delivery of its first steamship, . Nourse Line gradually began to phase out her outdated sailing ships and by 1908 all had either been sold or scrapped. By the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Nourse had purchased a further five ships and operated them from Calcutta to the West Indies on a regular monthly service. The ships were heavily mortgaged and to operate them to capacity the company often acted not only as shipowners but also as freight agents purchasing and selling commodities in their own right.

First World War

The end of the Indentured Labour System coincided with the start of the first world war and thus any effect of the loss of labour transportation contract was delayed until the end of the war. Nourse Line lost two of its ships during the war, ''Indus'' and ''Dewa'', and both were replaced almost immediately by ''Megna'', purchased in 1916 and ''Betwa'', initially designed as an indentured labour carrier but later altered to that of a cargo ship and delivered in 1917. In an attempt to minimise its war risks and maintain its ships numbers the P&O in 1917 purchased Nourse Line, Union Steamship Company of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and Hain Steamship Company.

References

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External links

Nourse Line