Women Shipowners in the Nineteenth Century, 1824 - 1899

The results shed new light on women as independent economic agents and show widows, spinsters and wives actively buying and selling shares in ships. Twelve per cent of the shipping shares in the five ports were held by women. One small but significant group are the number of wives who held shares in their own names before the Married Women's Property Acts of 1871 and 1882. These data will be of use to anyone studying women investors or shipping investment in the nineteenth century.<br> <br> <br>