The East India Company's Maritime Service, 1746-1834: Masters of the Eastern Seas (Worlds of the East India Company) (Volume 6)

Describes the voyages of East India Company's ships to India and China in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, discussing the nature of trade and the involvement of the Company's ships in maritime warfare. Awarded the prestigious Anderson Medal by the Society for Nautical Research for the best volume published on an aspect of maritime history for 2010. This book covers every aspect of the East India Company's trade duringthe final century of its commercial life as the focus moves steadily eastwards, driven by Britain's unquenchable thirst for China tea. The whole spectrum of the trade, physically and temporally, unfolds through the careers of three generations of an important East India shipping family. Starting as second mate in Salisbury in 1746, William Larkins gained a command, then entered the powerful circle of managing owners who monopolized the supply of the Company's ships. His sons and grandsons followed him, all playing a significant part in the wider struggle to establish Britain's political supremacy in India and dominance of the China Sea trade. From the end of the eighteenthcentury liberalization eroded their power and wealth: they had to compete in the provision of the Company's ships, while the virile free merchants in the eastern seas finally broke down the Company's privilege of trading between Britain and the east. The last member of the Larkins family to serve the Company adapted to the prevailing conditions following the Company's withdrawal from trade in 1834, carrying British manufactures to China and bringing back tea, boosting his earnings by investing in smuggled opium. JEAN SUTTON is a maritime historian, author of the highly acclaimed Lords of the East, the East India Company and its Ships [1981, second edition 2000]. Awarded the prestigious Anderson Medal by the Society for Nautical Research for the best volume published on an aspect of maritime history for 2010. This book covers every aspect of the East India Company's trade during the final century of its commercial life as the focus moves steadily eastwards, driven by Britain's unquenchable thirst for China tea. The whole spectrum of the trade, physically and temporally, unfolds through the careers of three generations of an important East India shipping family. Starting as second mate in Salisbury in 1746, William Larkins gained a command, then entered the powerful circle of managing owners who monopolized the supply of the Company's ships. His sons and grandsons followed him, all playing a significant part in the wider struggle to establish Britain's political supremacy in India and dominance of the China Sea trade. From the end of the eighteenth century liberalization eroded their power and wealth: they had to compete in the provision of the Company's ships, while the virile free merchants in the eastern seas finally broke down the Company's privilege of trading between Britain and the east. The last member of the Larkins family to serve the Company adapted to the prevailing conditions following the Company's withdrawal from trade in 1834, carrying British manufactures to China and bringing back tea, boosting his earnings by investing in smuggled opium. JEAN SUTTON is a maritime historian, author of the highly acclaimed Lords of the East, the East India Company and its Ships (1981, second edition 2000). In the Company's service. A hazardous voyage ; Bombay and 'the Gulphs' ; From Malabar to Whampoa William Larkins, Commander and managing owner. The world voyage : Sumatra ; Abuse, pains and penalties ; The Company in crisis Thomas Larkins, Commander and managing owner. The darkest years ; The domination of tea ; Diversifying : brahmins and convicts John Pascall Larkins, Esq., managing owner. Competition and conflict ; An event unique in the Company's history ; The fortunes of war The new world disorder. The machinery of justice. Covers the final century of the East India Company's history, focusing on its steady drive east to India and China, driven by Britain's thirst for tea. Follows three generations of the Larkins family, beginning with William who started as a mate on a Company ship in 1746 and ending with a grandson who boosted his earnings by investing in smuggled opium after the Company ended trading in 1834. The book charts in detail successive voyages by members of the Larkins family, who were leading owners of East India Company ships, showing what it was like to sail to and trade with India in this period. It provides a great deal of material on trade, warfare, developments in seamanship and navigation, the opening up of trade to China, and much more.