Devitt and Moore

Devitt & Moore, the London ship-brokers, became ship-owners in 1863, and entered the passenger and cargo trade to Australia. In that year it was announced that they were having a new ship built at Sunderland by William Pile expressly for the South Australian trade. This was the 791-ton City of Adelaide.

Devitt & Moore were identified consistently as the registered owners of the City of Adelaide, but technically they were the managing agents in London. It was Joseph Moore snr. who, as an individual, was the syndicate member holding a quarter share in the ship. The other three equal shares were owned by Port Adelaide shipping agents the Harrold Brothers, Adelaide businessman Henry Martin and the ship's first master Scotsman David Bruce.

Formation

Thomas Henry Devitt (1800-1860), as an 18 year old trying his luck in London, joined the office of Buckle, Baxter & Co, merchants and ship-owners of Mark Lane near Fenchurch Station, as a junior clerk. Over the next eighteen years he gained valuable experience and a thorough grounding in the business.

In 1836, fellow clerks Thomas Devitt and Joseph Moore of 9 Bissett Street London E C, were so dissatisfied with their pay (£120 per year) and their prospects of promotion, that they decided to set up in business on their own. They founded a ship-broking firm and established professional freight brokerage in the Australian trade.

Devitt & Moore enjoyed immediate success, being appointed as loading brokers for 11 sailing ships on the Australian run in their first year, and this had increased to 39 ships by 1840. London’s leading ship-owner Duncan Dunbar gave his work to the new firm, and this valuable association continued until his death in 1862.

Succession

When Devitt died in 1860, Moore included their sons Thomas Lane Devitt and Joseph Moore jnr. as partners in the firm.

South Australia’s agriculture had yet to become established, but the fortunes of the young Colony received a timely boost with the discovery of copper. It was exported to the Welsh smelters, often as ballast with other cargoes. This could be profitable, even with vessels that were not ideal for the purpose. On the other hand, the market for the other staple export, wool, lay in London, and competition on the long voyage required larger and more costly ships. This trade eventually fell mainly into the hands of three firms: A L Elder & Co, the Orient Line, and Devitt & Moore.

In purchasing their first two full-rigged ships from Duncan Dunbar in 1863, Devitt & Moore started their long connection with Australia as shipowners, and over the next 55 years they ran a fleet of 29 square-rigged sailing ships and two steamships. These carried passengers, wool, copper and general cargo between Great Britain and Australia until the end of the First World War, when they finally conceded to the competition from the steamships.

In 1868, when several shipping companies were changing from sail to steam, Devitt & Moore wanted to keep up to date. They drew up plans for six steamships, but the first-built was wrecked on the South African coast when she was returning from Melbourne on her maiden voyage in 1871. All passengers were saved, but five of the crew were drowned and the ship was a total loss. This upset the partners so much that they did not place orders for the other five steamers. Joseph Moore said “We’ll have no more of these steam kettles. We’ll stick to sailing ships.” However they did operate one more steamer from 1875 until 1880.

Each passenger sailing ship carried a ‘farmyard’ on board to keep the passengers supplied with fresh meat, milk and eggs through the voyage of three months. After Joseph Moore retired from active partnership in the firm, he went to live in Cornwall where he took up farming. For outbound passages from London, Plymouth or Falmouth, all the cows, bullocks, sheep, pigs, geese, chickens, ducks and turkeys, plus the hay, straw, swedes, parsnips, corn, grit, pollard and bran to feed them, came from Joseph Moore’s farm.