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George Pollard Jr. (c. 1791–1870) was the captain of the whalers Essex and Two Brothers, both of which sank. Pollard's life, including his encounter with the sperm whale that sank Essex, served as inspiration for Captain Ahab, the whale-obsessed character in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. [1] [2]
May 23, 2018 · George Pollard, Jr. (1791–1870) was the captain of the whaleships Essex and Two Brothers, both of which sank. Pollard's life, including his encounter with the sperm whale that sank the Essex, served as inspiration for Captain Ahab, the whale-obsessed character in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.
- Nantucket, Massachusetts
- July 18, 1791
Captain George Pollard Jr. was just 29 years old when the Essex went down, and he survived and returned to Nantucket to captain a second whaling ship, Two Brothers. But when that ship wrecked...
- Jared Coffin House
- Captain Pollard's House
- ‘Sconset
- Sankaty Head Lighthouse
- Thomas Macy House
- Mitchell House
Melville and his father-in-law, Massachusetts Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw, traveled to Nantucket together. They stayed at the Ocean House hotel, which is now known as the Jared Coffin House. The duo’s room overlooked Captain Pollard’s house on Centre Street. Jared Coffin, a successful ship owner from the island’s whaling heyday, built the house in 18...
By the time Melville visited Nantucket, Captain Pollard (the captain of the Essex) had retired from whaling and was working as the town’s nightwatchman. Locals say that when Melville stayed at Ocean House, he would wave at Pollard from the front stoop as he tended the streetlamps at night. Pollard’s house was on Centre Street (across from Ocean Hou...
Melville visited the quaint village of ‘Sconset, or more accurately Siasconset, on his trip, when the area was still rife with fishing shanties from the 1700s and 1800s (many of which have been turned into small cottages by now). His journey to ‘Sconset was part of a carriage tour of the island. The village likely inspired a book he wrote but never...
When Melville visited Nantucket, he and his wife, Elizabeth Shaw, lived in the Berkshires and were close friends with author Nathaniel Hawthorne, who lived nearby. Melville sent Hawthorne a letter about his visit to Sankaty Head Lighthouse at the easternmost point on the island. “The air is suppressedly charged with the sound of long lines of surf,...
Since Melville hadn't been to Nantucket when he wrote Moby Dick, he learned about the town by poring over historian Obed Macy’s 1835 book The History of Nantucket. Macy died in 1844—so when Melville visited in 1852, he didn’t meet the author, but instead met his son, Thomas Macy. They met at the Macy’s house (now known as the Thomas Macy House) to ...
Maria Mitchell is widely considered to be the first female astronomer in America. In 1847, she discovered a comet, which was dubbed "Miss Mitchell's Comet," or more formally, C/1847 T1 . Her love of astronomy came to her by way of her astronomer father, William. When Melville visited the island, he spent some time with both father and daughter at t...
Jan 29, 2019 · Crammed aboard a small whaleboat with some of his crew, the captain had been drifting aimlessly in the South Pacific for more than two months. The sun was relentless, their thirst was unquenchable,...
- Lucas Reilly
After surviving the harrowing ordeal of the whaleship Essex, Captain George Pollard Jr. returned to Nantucket aboard the whaleship Two Brothers, arriving on August 5, 1821, to a huge crowd of some 1,500 gathered to witness the tragic captain’s homecoming.
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Nov 20, 2017 · George Pollard, Jr., was captain of the whaling ship Essex, and Owen Chase was his first mate. Neither was really a scientist, but both were present at one of the most impressive impact studies of modern times. On Nov. 20, 1820, the Essex was rammed amidships by a huge sperm whale, estimated to be 85 feet long, just about the length of the ship.
