Brodie McGhie Wilcox
(1786 - 1862)
           
           
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Brodie McGhie Wilcox (1786 - 1862)
Co-Founder of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O)

Brodie McGhie Wilcox (1786 - 1862), was a businessman and Liberal politician. He was co-founder of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O).

Little is known about the life of Brodie McGhie Wilcox. But he became a London shipbroker in 1822 and partnered with Arthur Anderson to form the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company. They developed the shipping business between Britain and the Iberian peninsular, at one stage shipping guns and the British Legion to fight Portuguese conservatives and Spanish Carlists during their internal wars of the 1830s.

They followed this with a regular steamship service in 1837, called the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company, which soon became P&O. Despite cash crises, it expanded operations to Hong Kong and Australia, supported by government mail contracts. At his death in 1862 P&O had the largest commercial fleet of steamships in the world.
He was managing director of P&O from its commencement and was Chairman of P&O from 1858 until his death. He served as a Liberal MP in Westminster for the Southampton constituency. He died in 1862 in Roydon near Portsmouth of an accident. He will be best remembered as an extensive shipowner and co-founder of P&O.

Related Websites:

Carnival Corporation & PLC
www.carnivalplc.com

P&O Group
www.pogroup.com

P&O Cruises
www.pocruises.com
   






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