Samuel Cunard
(1787-1865):

Born at Halifax, Cunard succeeded early as a merchant and as a ship owner, and went off to the big leagues moved off to England in 1838. Joining with George Burns of Glasgow and with David McIver of Liverpool the Cunard line was founded in 1839. "The first passage (1840) was that of the Britannia in 14 days 8 hours." See Kay Grant's work on Cunard.