Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy
Encyclopedia
Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy (7 July 1813, Kiel
- 9 February 1885, Dockenhuden near Blankenese
) was a German trader
and Hanseat
.
He was the founder of Museum Godeffroy
.
. In 1737 they were forced to flee France to avoid religious persecution after events following the Edict of Fontainbleau in 1685. The family sought asylum in Germany and finally settled in the trading port of Hamburg finally founding a trading empire known as J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn .At first the trade was in Western Europe and the West Indies with linen
s as an export item the goods returning to Hamburg including copper
, coffee
, wine
figs
, and sugar
from Cuba
. Under Johann Cesar VI Godeffroy out posts were established in Havana
and in Valparaiso
, and he built a fleet of trading ships that, at its peak, numbered 27. Amongst these were the sailing barque
s "Johann Caesar", "Peter Godeffroy", "La Rochelle", "Wandram", "Suzanne", "Iserbrook" and the "Victoria". In 1855, trade was expanded into the Pacific following negotiations by August Unshelm, Godeffroy’s agent in Valparaiso, He sailed out to the Navigator Islands
, The Friendly Islands
, Fiji
, and finally Tahiti
.
The trading business in the Pacific was very profiable and new outposts and plantations were established in many Pacific Islands. The goods were copra
, coconut oil
and luxuries such as pearl
. In 1860, a central outpost, directing Pacific operations was established in Apia. Johann Godeffroy was also able to take advantage of an immigration scheme to Southern Africa and between October 1859 and September 1883 no less than 36 ships sailed for southern Africa, bringing hundreds of German families to the Western Cape
, the Eastern Cape
, British Kaffraria
and Natal
.
In the financial crash of the late 1850
s, the firm supplemented its revenue by taking on passengers to the Australian gold rush
and the California gold rush
. The German government supported and utilized the Godeffroy company as part of colonial policy in the Pacific Islands and for the next twenty years, the Godeffroy ships traded cargo and shipping passengers. Johann Godeffroy was also able to take advantage of an immigration scheme to Southern Africa and between October 1859 and September 1883 no less than 36 ships sailed for southern Africa, bringing hundreds of German families to the Western Cape
, the Eastern Cape
, British Kaffraria
and Natal
. Nevertheless In the early 1880s the company went bankrupt following the Panic of 1873
despite a loan from Barings Bank
of 60,000 pound sterling.
from about 1821 to 1830, as did his younger brothers and his older brother Gustav Adolph.He then trained at Parish & Co. whose owner Richard Parish was married to Susanne Godeffroy, a daughter of Peter Godeffroy, brother of his grandfather. An internship in England followed. Towards the end of 1835, he joined his father's company, "John Ces. Godeffroy & Sohn " and on 1 January 1837 he became a shareholder. After the death of his father Johan V. Cesar Godeffroy on 3 July 1845 he took over the company. In this year he was elected to the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce.
From 1846 he negotiated partnerships and mergers with various companies notably "Elb-Kupferwerk" (copper ore processors) and "Reiherstieg Hermann V. Roos" (shipbuilders). In 1857 he took control of the newly established "L. R. Beit, Gold- und Silber-Affinerie" now Aurubis AG
. Other business arrangements were made with "Tesdorf FJ & Son", "Elbhütte Affinir- und Handelsgesellschaft" and "Elb-Zuckersiederei" (sugar refiners). In these years also co-founded the North German Bank and the North German Insurance Company. Due to lack of liquidity the company John Ces. Godeffroy & Sohn 1879 began legal process with its creditors. This took over 30 years but finally in 1913 the company name "John Ces. Godeffroy & Sohn" was erased from the Register.
On on 2 February 1837 Johan Cesar VI. Godeffroy married Emily Hanbury (1815–1894) whose family had close trading ties with Livorno
. The couple had five children, with Johan Cesar Godeffroy VII, the eldest son. His brother Gustav Godeffroy was a Senator for the city of Hamburg in the Frankfurt National Assembly and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Norddeutsche Bank. His brother, Adolph Godeffroy in 1847 was co-founder of the passenger line "Hamburg-Amerikanischen Packetfahrt-AG“ (HAPAG)" (HAPAG) and until 1880 the presiding director.
During the winter months the family lived in the upper floors of a house in the Old Wandrahm, office spaces occupied the lower floor. This house was built around 1880. The rest of the year they lived far outside the city Dockenhuden, today a district of Blankenese in a cottage built by the Danish architect Christian Frederik Hansen
around 1792 :de:Landhaus J. C. Godeffroy.
Nearby, in the area known as Iserbrook, he planted extensive woodlands where Hamburg bourgeoisie, notably Ernst Merck
, William Henry O'Swald
, Corad Hinrich Donner
Johann Heinrich Schröder
and Robert Miles Sloman
were entertained at a tennis club.This is now Hirschpark :de:Hirschpark. He also established a horse farm
.
In June 1836 with his younger brother, Adolph, Carl Merck, Charles Parish, Dr. Edward Sieveking
, Dr. Johann Gustav Heckscher
and five other enthusiasts he founded the
Hamburg Rowing Club
.It is the oldest sailing club on the European continent and still exists today.
From 1859 to 1864 he sat as a member of the Hamburg Parliament.
) and bankers in Hamburg and under the close direction of Johan Caesar VI Godeffroy the company was soon throughout the South Seas, with centres of operation at Apia and Valparaiso, and a fleet of trading barques, brigs and schooners, which traded through the islands from China to the Pacific coast flying the company colours - a white flag with a ribboned golden dove on a blue horizontal bar with golden stripes, below the bar is a blue inscription: "J.C.G. & S. In Apia the company supplied arms and ammunition from an armaments subsidiary at Liege
. These were supplied to the warring factions on Apia in exchange for 25,000 acres of the finest alluvial soil soon transformed into plantations of, mainly, copra or coconut oil, pearl-shell or sea-island cotton. These were worked by over 1,000 labourers imported from Melanesia. Another plantation of 3,000 acres was later started at Yap in the Pelew Group, in the Ellice Group the island of Nukufetau
was acquired for its harbour and in 1873 trading posts were established in the Bismarck archipelago
. At Apia they had a shipbuilding yard and repairing sheds. The ships never insured and their captains were paid commission of three per cent, on the net profit of each voyage. Ships always left Apia under sealed orders to disguise their intentions from competitors. More innovative was the introduction of debased South American currencies as the sole means of exchange so controlling the money.
(1833–1919) in Switzerland to request his services in founding a museum.The 28-year old Swiss zoologist accepted and boarded a train for Hamburg in 1861. After a short time the Museum Godeffroy
was founded and Gräffe was sent to the Pacific in October 1861 to supervise the acquisition of more material. He settled in Apia and directed the Godeffroy operations there for the next decade while also collecting in Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, Australia, Samoa and other South Pacific Islands. Other scientific collectors were hired by the company who, working in different areas of the Pacific ocean, helped increase the holdings of the Museum with their successful collecting of birds, mammals, fishes, shells, butterflies, beetles and other insects, plants and ethnographic
objects. The museum also functioned as a natural history dealership. On the establishment of the museum he was made an honorary member of Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte :de:Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte.
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
- 9 February 1885, Dockenhuden near Blankenese
Blankenese
Blankenese is a former independent town, now a suburban quarter in the borough Altona in the western part of Hamburg . It is located on right bank of the Elbe river...
) was a German trader
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
and Hanseat
Hanseaten (class)
The Hanseaten is a collective term for the heirachy group consisting of elite individuals and families of prestigious rank who constituted the ruling class of the free imperial city of Hamburg, conjointly with the equal First Families of the free imperial cities Bremen and Lübeck...
.
He was the founder of Museum Godeffroy
Museum Godeffroy
The Museum Godeffroy was a museum in Hamburg, Germany, which existed from 1861 to 1885.The collection was founded by Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy, who became a wealthy shipping magnate a few years after the expansion of the his trade towards Australia and the South Seas. His expert collectors and...
.
Family history and the trading company J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn
The Godeffroys were French Huguenot s of La RochelleLa Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
. In 1737 they were forced to flee France to avoid religious persecution after events following the Edict of Fontainbleau in 1685. The family sought asylum in Germany and finally settled in the trading port of Hamburg finally founding a trading empire known as J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn .At first the trade was in Western Europe and the West Indies with linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
s as an export item the goods returning to Hamburg including copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
figs
FIGS
FIGS is an acronym for French, Italian, German, Spanish. These are usually the first four languages chosen to localize products into when a company enters the European market....
, and sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. Under Johann Cesar VI Godeffroy out posts were established in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
and in Valparaiso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, and he built a fleet of trading ships that, at its peak, numbered 27. Amongst these were the sailing barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
s "Johann Caesar", "Peter Godeffroy", "La Rochelle", "Wandram", "Suzanne", "Iserbrook" and the "Victoria". In 1855, trade was expanded into the Pacific following negotiations by August Unshelm, Godeffroy’s agent in Valparaiso, He sailed out to the Navigator Islands
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, The Friendly Islands
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, and finally Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
.
The trading business in the Pacific was very profiable and new outposts and plantations were established in many Pacific Islands. The goods were copra
Copra
Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.-Production:...
, coconut oil
Coconut oil
Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconut palm . Throughout the tropical world, it has provided the primary source of fat in the diets of millions of people for generations. It has various applications in food, medicine, and industry...
and luxuries such as pearl
Pearl
A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...
. In 1860, a central outpost, directing Pacific operations was established in Apia. Johann Godeffroy was also able to take advantage of an immigration scheme to Southern Africa and between October 1859 and September 1883 no less than 36 ships sailed for southern Africa, bringing hundreds of German families to the Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
, the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...
, British Kaffraria
British Kaffraria
British Kaffraria was a British colony/subordinate administrative entity in present-day South Africa, consisting of the districts now known as King Williams Town and East London.The term Kaffraria stems from the word "Kaffir"...
and Natal
Colony of Natal
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...
.
In the financial crash of the late 1850
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was...
s, the firm supplemented its revenue by taking on passengers to the Australian gold rush
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
and the California gold rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. The German government supported and utilized the Godeffroy company as part of colonial policy in the Pacific Islands and for the next twenty years, the Godeffroy ships traded cargo and shipping passengers. Johann Godeffroy was also able to take advantage of an immigration scheme to Southern Africa and between October 1859 and September 1883 no less than 36 ships sailed for southern Africa, bringing hundreds of German families to the Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
, the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...
, British Kaffraria
British Kaffraria
British Kaffraria was a British colony/subordinate administrative entity in present-day South Africa, consisting of the districts now known as King Williams Town and East London.The term Kaffraria stems from the word "Kaffir"...
and Natal
Colony of Natal
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...
. Nevertheless In the early 1880s the company went bankrupt following the Panic of 1873
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
despite a loan from Barings Bank
Barings Bank
Barings Bank was the oldest merchant bank in London until its collapse in 1995 after one of the bank's employees, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million due to speculative investing, primarily in futures contracts, at the bank's Singapore office.-History:-1762–1890:Barings Bank was founded in 1762 as the...
of 60,000 pound sterling.
Johan Cesar VI. Godeffroy
Johan Godeffroy attended the town school of Katharineum of LübeckLübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
from about 1821 to 1830, as did his younger brothers and his older brother Gustav Adolph.He then trained at Parish & Co. whose owner Richard Parish was married to Susanne Godeffroy, a daughter of Peter Godeffroy, brother of his grandfather. An internship in England followed. Towards the end of 1835, he joined his father's company, "John Ces. Godeffroy & Sohn " and on 1 January 1837 he became a shareholder. After the death of his father Johan V. Cesar Godeffroy on 3 July 1845 he took over the company. In this year he was elected to the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce.
From 1846 he negotiated partnerships and mergers with various companies notably "Elb-Kupferwerk" (copper ore processors) and "Reiherstieg Hermann V. Roos" (shipbuilders). In 1857 he took control of the newly established "L. R. Beit, Gold- und Silber-Affinerie" now Aurubis AG
Aurubis
Aurubis AG is the largest copper producer in Europe. The company is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany.- History :In 1866 Norddeutsche Affinerie was incorporated as a stock company....
. Other business arrangements were made with "Tesdorf FJ & Son", "Elbhütte Affinir- und Handelsgesellschaft" and "Elb-Zuckersiederei" (sugar refiners). In these years also co-founded the North German Bank and the North German Insurance Company. Due to lack of liquidity the company John Ces. Godeffroy & Sohn 1879 began legal process with its creditors. This took over 30 years but finally in 1913 the company name "John Ces. Godeffroy & Sohn" was erased from the Register.
On on 2 February 1837 Johan Cesar VI. Godeffroy married Emily Hanbury (1815–1894) whose family had close trading ties with Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
. The couple had five children, with Johan Cesar Godeffroy VII, the eldest son. His brother Gustav Godeffroy was a Senator for the city of Hamburg in the Frankfurt National Assembly and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Norddeutsche Bank. His brother, Adolph Godeffroy in 1847 was co-founder of the passenger line "Hamburg-Amerikanischen Packetfahrt-AG“ (HAPAG)" (HAPAG) and until 1880 the presiding director.
During the winter months the family lived in the upper floors of a house in the Old Wandrahm, office spaces occupied the lower floor. This house was built around 1880. The rest of the year they lived far outside the city Dockenhuden, today a district of Blankenese in a cottage built by the Danish architect Christian Frederik Hansen
Christian Frederik Hansen
Christian Frederik Hansen , known as C.F. Hansen, was the leading Danish architect between the late 18th century and the mid 19th century, and on account of his position at the Royal Danish Academy of Art the most powerful person in artistic circles for many years...
around 1792 :de:Landhaus J. C. Godeffroy.
Nearby, in the area known as Iserbrook, he planted extensive woodlands where Hamburg bourgeoisie, notably Ernst Merck
Ernst Merck
Freiherr Ernst Merck was a German businessman and politician.Merck, born in Hamburg, was a member of the Frankfurt Parliament for a year from 1848 to 1849....
, William Henry O'Swald
William Henry O'Swald
William Henry O'Swald was a Hamburg overseas merchant and Senator.William Henry O'Swald's father was Johan Carl Heinrich Wilhelm O'Swald a Prussian who in 1831 founded the company O'Swald & Co in Hamburg. In 1847 the company began trade with Zanzibar, Lagos and Palma. The main office was in...
, Corad Hinrich Donner
Corad Hinrich Donner
Conrad Hinrich Donner was a German bankerand art collector.Conrad Hinrich Donner was the son of Johann Christian Donner , a buyer and the Danish consul in Hamburg and Maria Anterrer from Altona. Donner was at first the owner of a tobacco factory with 150 workers...
Johann Heinrich Schröder
Johann Heinrich Schröder
Johann Heinrich Schröder was the founder of Schroders, one of the United Kingdom's largest investment banks.-Career:Having been admitted to his older brother's firm, J. F...
and Robert Miles Sloman
Robert Miles Sloman
Robert Miles Sloman was an English-German shipbuilder and ship owner.-Shipping:...
were entertained at a tennis club.This is now Hirschpark :de:Hirschpark. He also established a horse farm
Stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English stod meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding" Historically, documentation of the breedings that occur on a stud farm leads to the...
.
In June 1836 with his younger brother, Adolph, Carl Merck, Charles Parish, Dr. Edward Sieveking
Edward Henry Sieveking
Edward Henry Sieveking was an English physician born in Bishopsgate, London. He studied medicine at the University of Berlin under eminent physiologist Johannes Peter Muller, and also at University College London and the University of Edinburgh, where he received his doctorate in 1841.For much of...
, Dr. Johann Gustav Heckscher
Johann Gustav Heckscher
Johann Gustav Wilhelm Moritz Heckscher was a German politician.-Biography:He served during the War of 1815 as a volunteer in the Hanseatic Corps, and then studied at the universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg...
and five other enthusiasts he founded the
Hamburg Rowing Club
Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club
Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club is a rowing club in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1836 as Der Hamburger Ruder Club, the club is the fourth oldest rowing club in the world after Brasenose College Boat Club, Jesus College Boat Club and Leander Club...
.It is the oldest sailing club on the European continent and still exists today.
From 1859 to 1864 he sat as a member of the Hamburg Parliament.
Südseekönig, South Sea King
Starting Pacific trading in Cochin-China and supported by merged, partner companies, share-holders (including Otto von BismarckOtto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
) and bankers in Hamburg and under the close direction of Johan Caesar VI Godeffroy the company was soon throughout the South Seas, with centres of operation at Apia and Valparaiso, and a fleet of trading barques, brigs and schooners, which traded through the islands from China to the Pacific coast flying the company colours - a white flag with a ribboned golden dove on a blue horizontal bar with golden stripes, below the bar is a blue inscription: "J.C.G. & S. In Apia the company supplied arms and ammunition from an armaments subsidiary at Liege
Liege
Liège is a municipality and a city of Belgium. The term Liège or Liege may also refer to:* Liege, a party to the oath of allegiance in feudalism .* Liège Island, in the Antarctic...
. These were supplied to the warring factions on Apia in exchange for 25,000 acres of the finest alluvial soil soon transformed into plantations of, mainly, copra or coconut oil, pearl-shell or sea-island cotton. These were worked by over 1,000 labourers imported from Melanesia. Another plantation of 3,000 acres was later started at Yap in the Pelew Group, in the Ellice Group the island of Nukufetau
Nukufetau
Nukufetau is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu. The atoll was claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act some time in the 19th century and was ceded in a treaty of friendship concluded in 1979 and coming into force in 1983...
was acquired for its harbour and in 1873 trading posts were established in the Bismarck archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...
. At Apia they had a shipbuilding yard and repairing sheds. The ships never insured and their captains were paid commission of three per cent, on the net profit of each voyage. Ships always left Apia under sealed orders to disguise their intentions from competitors. More innovative was the introduction of debased South American currencies as the sole means of exchange so controlling the money.
The Establishment of the Museum Godeffroy
Beginning as a personal collection of birds, shells, fish and other animals as well as cultural objects from all localities visited by the Godeffroy ships Godeffroy's natural history cabinet grew in size until it occupied a cluttered warehouse. It was time to find a proper place to house, list, organize and finally display them to a fascinated public and in 1860 Godeffroy wrote to Dr. Eduard Heinrich GraeffeEduard Heinrich Graeffe
Eduard Heinrich Graeffe or Gräffe was a Swiss entomologist specialising in Hymenoptera , Diptera and Hemiptera...
(1833–1919) in Switzerland to request his services in founding a museum.The 28-year old Swiss zoologist accepted and boarded a train for Hamburg in 1861. After a short time the Museum Godeffroy
Museum Godeffroy
The Museum Godeffroy was a museum in Hamburg, Germany, which existed from 1861 to 1885.The collection was founded by Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy, who became a wealthy shipping magnate a few years after the expansion of the his trade towards Australia and the South Seas. His expert collectors and...
was founded and Gräffe was sent to the Pacific in October 1861 to supervise the acquisition of more material. He settled in Apia and directed the Godeffroy operations there for the next decade while also collecting in Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, Australia, Samoa and other South Pacific Islands. Other scientific collectors were hired by the company who, working in different areas of the Pacific ocean, helped increase the holdings of the Museum with their successful collecting of birds, mammals, fishes, shells, butterflies, beetles and other insects, plants and ethnographic
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
objects. The museum also functioned as a natural history dealership. On the establishment of the museum he was made an honorary member of Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte :de:Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte.