The East India Company became the most powerful multinational the world has ever known. However, its first voyages were somewhat haphazard. This talk by London tour guide Rob Smith looks at the attempts by British sailors to set up trading missions in India, China, Japan and what is now Indonesia. The difficulties faced included getting shipwrecked on an island full of penguins, accidentally firing the ship’s cannons at their ship’s boat, clashes with the Dutch East India company, mutinous crews, not to mention the ever-present problem of diseases like scurvy and dysentery. Nevertheless, these challenges were overcome and the trading posts which made the East India Company fabulously profitable were finally established.
Please note: lectures can be watched live online but we do not generally make recordings available after the event, for a number of reasons relating to time and copyright issues.
Date: Wednesday 8 October 2025
Time: 19:00
Place: CA House or, for the webinar broadcast via Zoom, your own home or boat
Booking (to attend at CA House): To book places on any lecture, and to indicate whether you’ll be ordering food, click on (link to be added when available) . Please pay in advance on the website, or by contactless on the door. Any problems with the booking system, call or email the Events Administrator at CA House on 020 7537 2828/events@theca.org.uk
Tickets (to attend at CA House): Members £4, non-members £7.
Booking (to join the webinar via Zoom): The webinar is open to members, including Crewing Service members, only. There will be no charge for viewing online.
