John Marshall: Shipowner, Lloyd’s Reformer and Emigration Agent by Elizabeth Rushen

Immigration was as controversial in the nineteenth century as it is today. Australia has a long history of migration and is considered one of the world’s great immigration success stories, but this process has not been without cost. This book tells the story of the most active emigration agent of the nineteenth-century: John Marshall. His influence can be read in the naming of the town Marshall, outside Geelong, Victoria, and in the lives of the descendants of the thousands of people he assisted to migrate to the British colonies of New Zealand, Canada and North America, Cape Town and most importantly, Australia.

Marshall’s work also impacts the world today through Lloyd’s Register of Shipping. A brilliant strategist, Marshall instigated a review of the classification of ships and the merger of the red and green registers used by Lloyd’s shipowners and underwriters, and later established Britain’s first emigration depot at Plymouth.

Enterprise was much-admired in the early to mid-nineteenth century and Marshall was one of the most active entrepreneurs of the period. He was a merchant-adventurer and superb logistician who read the marketplace and was prepared to move to a new start-up each time his finances dictated a fresh start: brokerage, trade, shipping, emigration, coal. Marshall had both the vision and analytical skills to achieve great things, but he lacked business acumen or the personality to successfully carry through any of his undertakings. This book links the various facets of Marshall’s life from his humble beginnings to his impoverished end. It explains how an unknown insurance broker from the provinces could rise to be a key player in London’s ship owning and merchant world of the early nineteenth century.

ISBN:9780648061663

About the Author

Dr Liz Rushen is a Melbourne-based historian who has written extensively on nineteenth-century migration to Australia.

See What Other Say

Barbara Jones, Curator of Maritime History & Heritage, Lloyd’s Register Foundation

This is a significant and detailed study of John Marshall, a colourful historical figure who has relevance to studies on safety at sea, philanthropy, agitation for reform, shipowning, shipbroking, trading and emigration. Dr Rushen has a great way of portraying a vast and sometimes complex array of information in an enjoyable and accessible way that makes you want to read on.

Published by Anchor Books

$34.95

5 in stock