John T. Arundel - John T. Arundel & Co.

John T. Arundel & Co.

In 1871 with financial support from Houlder Brothers & Co., he established John T. Arundel & Co., which operated in the Pacific, mining guano, establishing coconut plantations, and trading in copra and other commodities produced on the Pacific.

John T. Arundel & Co., operated from Sydney, Australia with business interests in the Pacific that included:

• Mining guano on
  • Baker Island from 1886 to 1899, which is now claimed as a unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States.
  • Howland Island from 1886 to 1899, which is geographically part of the Phoenix Islands and now claimed as a unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States.
  • Manra or Sydney Island in 1884, which is geographically part of the Phoenix Islands and is part of Kiribati.
  • Raine Island in the Torres Strait, Rocky Island, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Lady Elliott Island off Bundaberg, Queensland and several islands in the Bunker and Capricorn group in the waters off Northern Australia.
• Establishing a coconut plantation on
  • Flint Island in 1881 in what is now Kiribati, with the plantation operated by the firm until 1891.
  • Nikumaroro, or Gardner Island, which is geographically part of the Phoenix Islands and is part of Kiribati. The plantation was stated in 1892 but as a consequence of severe drought the plantation was abandoned within 12 months.

Albert Ellis who worked for John T. Arundel & Co., later acknowledged that the company was not making money although the company was gaining experience in the mining and shipping of guano and phosphate rock in what were sometimes difficult conditions, with many of these islands having no safe anchorage for shipping.