17/01/2025
A view of Nagasaki Bay filled with modern ships in the 1860s with the grounds of Glover’s property in the foreground and taken from Thomas Blake Glover’s house
Brocher Thomas Blake Glover and his brothers were responsible for brokering most of the ships in the photo.
Thomas Blake Glover was born in Fraserburgh in 1838, arrived in Nagasaki in Japan in 1859, and became rich and influential very quickly. One of his enterprises, along with his brothers, was dealing with ships.
One of the ships the Glover’s were responsible for was the “Satsuma” which had been built in Aberdeen.
Thomas Blake Glover’s sister Martha (also a Brocher) named the “Satsuma”, a fine cllipper barque, intended for the Japanese coasting trade on the 16th of January 1864 in Aberdeen.
It was reported on the 16th of January 1864 that from the yard of William Duthie Junior, Aberdeen, a fine cllipper barque named the “Satsuma”, 342 tons, had been named by Mrs Martha George sister of the owner Mr Charles T Glover, Esq. of Aberdeen.
The vessel was captained by Captain William Glover, a brother of the owner and was intended for the Japanese coasting trade.
Martha was born in Fraserburgh on the 2nd of January 1842, the only daughter of the Chief Coastguard of the town Lt Thomas Berry Glover and his wife Mary(nee Findlay). Martha married James George in 1861.
Martha had a few elder brothers including Charles Thomas and William Jacob who had been born in Fordyce in 1830 and 1832 and Thomas Blake who had been born in Fraserburgh in 1838, after the Glover family moved here in 1835.
The Glovers had all stayed in Fraserburgh for nine years between 1835 and 1844 until Lt Glover was posted elsewhere.
The Satsuma worked on the Japanese coastal routes for over a year but was lost on the morning of the 3rd May 1865 to the southward and eastward of Cape Namo, about twelve miles from the entrance to Nagasaki.
The weather was so thick and the wind so high at the time that it was impossible to work out the position of the vessel and was shipwrecked.
A court of inquiry in to the circumstances of the wreck sat at the British Consulate. No blame was attached to the captain by the owner or the general public. About one half the cargo was saved, and the wreck was sold by auction on the 6th, for the sum of $1,350.
Charles Glover, the owner had empowered his brother Thomas Blake Glover, to sell the ship and it had been sold for $23,000 to the Prince of Satsuma, to whom she was to have been delivered immediately after her arrival at Nagasaki.
3 days after the “Satsuma” had been wrecked and the very same day on which it had been sold Glover was brokering another deal involving another ship.
On the 6th May 1865 the American brig “Star” hauled down the American flag and hoisted the Japanese. She was sold by Messrs Glover and Co. to Prince Kaga for the sum of $12,500, cash.
The Prince of Ake Zukee paid a visit to Nagasaki on the 1st of June 1865.
He was very anxious to see Glover's bungalow, where he enjoyed a sumptuous feast. This was the first time that a Japanese Prince had ever visited a foreigner's house.
Queen Victoria's birthday was enthusiastically celebrated. A large picnic was given, and at night several of the bungalows on the hill were handsomely illuminated.
A fireworks display organised by Glover was universally admired and everyone agreed had been the highlight of the evening.
The Glovers were doing very well.
In the last few weeks of 1865 they did hundreds of thousands of dollars of business from shipping alone.
The sales of their ships included-
“Kin-lin”, to Prince Satsuma, for $56,000, sold by Glover and Со.
“Union”, to Prince Satsuma , for $60,000, sold by Glover and Co.
“Sarah”, to Prince Satsuma, for $19,000, sold by Glover and Со.
“Ayrshire Lass” and “Elgin”, to Prince Txikusen, for $150,000, sold by Glover and Со.
The Glovers’ business with Japan continued to grow.
At the start of 1869 the “Hiogo and Osaka Herald” reported that the British steamer “Filipino” had been “sold a day or two “ previously by Messrs. Glover and Co., Osaka, to Prince Awa for the sum of 98,600 rios.
This vessel was the 63rd that had been sold to the Japanese by Messrs. Glover and Co.
The Glovers were doing okay and were definitely worth a powin or two
Copyright Billy Watson 2025
