Alfred Chalmers
Sir Alfred John George Chambers, more commonly known as Captain A. J. G. Chalmers prior to his knighthood, was a British master mariner and a professional adviser to the Marine Department of the Board of Trade.
Biography
Early life
Chalmers was born on the 5 November 1845 in Bishop Wearmouth, Durham, the son of James M. and Jane Chalmers, with his father being a classical and commercial trader.In the merchant navy (1860 – 1877)
He was apprenticed to the merchant navy on 29 June 1860 on one of the famous ships then trading between Blackwall and the East Indies and Australia. In 1863, he became third officer of one of these vessels and in the following year he was shipwrecked on the north-west coast of Australia. After this adventure he became second mate and, later, first mate, of a vessel engaged in surveying the west coast of Australia.In 1866 Chalmers went into steam, and was employed in a vessel engaged in the carrying of emigrants between Copenhagen and New York City. In that year he was shipwrecked for the second time, when his vessel came to grief in the Gulf of Bothnia. For a time he served with the Diamond Line of Steamers, when was then maintained between London and South Africa. Reverting to sail, he became chief mate of a large iron clipper of the Kolkata trade. On his return to steamships he served, first as chief officer, and then as master of steam ships in the coasting and home trades, an in the Baltic, Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Easter services.