Devitt & Moore

The partnership of Devitt and Moore was started in 1836 by Thomas Henry Devitt (1800-1860) and Joseph Moore (fl 1836-1870). They began as trading brokers for a number of merchants who owned sailing vessels on the Australia run. On the death of Thomas H Devitt in 1860 his eldest son, Thomas Lane Devitt (1839-1923), who had joined the company in 1855, and Joseph Moore Jr became partners with Joseph Moore Sr. Under the direction of Thomas L Devitt, the business was greatly expanded and in 1863 the company purchased their first sailing ships and began their long association with the passenger and cargo trade to Australia. In 1870 they purchased their only steamship. In December 1878 Devitt and Moore joined with F Green and Co of London. As the importance of the sailing ship in the Australian trade began to decline the company turned its attention to the training of sea cadets, and The Ocean Training Scheme, devised by Lord Brassey and Thomas Lane Devitt, was begun in 1890. Known as the 'Brassey Scheme', its vessels were owned jointly by Lord Brassey and Devitt and Moore but managed by the latter company. The object was to develop a method of training officers for the Merchant Marine. Apart from practical seamanship, training instructions were provided on board the vessels to teach the cadets arithmetic, algebra, geometry, navigation and nautical astronomy. The first vessels acquired for the new scheme were the iron ships Harbinger and Hesperus. The four-masted barque PORT JACKSON was acquired in 1906. Another four-masted barque, the MEDWAY, was purchased in 1910 and the training scheme extended under a new company, Devitt and Moore Ocean Training Ship Ltd. The MEDWAY remained in service until 1918. In 1917 Devitt purchased 'Clayesmore', a large country house near Pangbourne and, together with his youngest son Philip Henry Devitt (1876-1947) founded the Nautical College. In 1929 the firm of Verne, Son and Eggar took over the shipbroking and chartering business of Devitt and Moore. In 1931 the company was reconstructed and renamed Devitt and Moore Nautical College Ltd.