The modern growth of Whitehaven started with the purchase by Sir Christopher Lowther of the Whitehaven estate in 1630 and the subsequent development of the port and the mines.
In 1634 he built a stone pier providing shelter and access for shipping, enabling the export of coal from the Cumberland Coalfield, particularly to Ireland.
This was a key event in the rapid growth of the town from a small fishing village to an industrial port.

In 1642, the manor of St. Bees was inherited by Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet, of Whitehaven (1642-1706), who developed the town of Whitehaven, its coal industry and the trade with Ireland.
He oversaw the rise of Whitehaven from a small fishing village (at his birth it consisted of some fifty houses and a population of about 250) to a planned town three times the size of Carlisle.
At his death the 'port of Whitehaven' had 77 registered vessels, totalling about four thousand tons, and was exporting over 35,000 tons of coal a year.

Whitehaven's growing prosperity was also based on tobacco.
By 1685, there were ships regularly bringing tobacco from the British colonies of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania in America, and by the early 18th century about 10% of England's tobacco imports passed through Whitehaven.
By the middle of the 18th century it was the second or third port in England for tobacco imports.
The tobacco was then sold in the domestic market or re-exported, e.g. to Ireland, France or the Netherlands.

However, after the Acts of Union 1707 united England with Scotland, thereby abolishing excise duties between them, the port of Glasgow began to take over Whitehaven's tobacco trade, leading to the later creation of Glasgow's Tobacco Lords.
By the second half of the 18th century there was a marked decline in shipping of tobacco via Whitehaven, and by 1820 the Customs Collector did not mention tobacco in his report on Whitehaven.

Daniel Defoe visited Whitehaven in the 1720s, and wrote that the town had:
"grown up from a small place to be very considerable by the coal trade, that it is now the most eminent port in England for shipping off of coals, except Newcastle and Sunderland and even beyond the last.
They have of late fallen into some merchandising also, occasioned by the strange great number of their shipping, and there are now some considerable merchants; but the town is yet but young in trade".

To replace the tobacco trade Whitehaven turned to importing sugar from Barbados, cotton wool from Antigua and coffee and cocoa from St Lucia.
Due to the coal trade Whitehaven was, after London, the second port of England in terms of tonnage of shipping from 1750 to 1772.
Even by 1835 Whitehaven was still the fifth placed port, with 443 ships registered, but by the end of the 19th century only 68 vessels were registered.
Whitehaven was intimately involved with the slave trade and records show slave ships leaving Whitehaven for slave voyages to Africa and America between 1711 and 1767.
In 2006, the Copeland Council (Whitehaven's local authority) issued a formal apology for Whitehaven's role in the slave trade.

Rebel patriot John Paul Jones raided the town in 1778, burning some merchant ships in the harbor.

During the 19th century the port of Whitehaven was overtaken by Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow, as they had better deep-water dock facilities, and were closer to large centres of population and industry.
The huge development of a national railway network had also reduced Whitehaven's 18th century competitive advantage of having coal extracted very close to a harbour for shipment by sea.
The modern growth of Whitehaven started with the purchase by Sir Christopher Lowther of the Whitehaven estate in 1630 and the subsequent development of the port and the mines. In 1634 he built a stone pier providing shelter and access for shipping, enabling the export of coal from the Cumberland Coalfield, particularly to Ireland. This was a key event in the rapid growth of the town from a small fishing village to an industrial port.
In 1642, the manor of St. Bees was inherited by Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet, of Whitehaven (1642-1706), who developed the town of Whitehaven, its coal industry and the trade with Ireland. He oversaw the rise of Whitehaven from a small fishing village (at his birth it consisted of some fifty houses and a population of about 250) to a planned town three times the size of Carlisle. At his death the 'port of Whitehaven' had 77 registered vessels, totalling about four thousand tons, and was exporting over 35,000 tons of coal a year.
Whitehaven's growing prosperity was also based on tobacco. By 1685, there were ships regularly bringing tobacco from the British colonies of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania in America, and by the early 18th century about 10% of England's tobacco imports passed through Whitehaven. By the middle of the 18th century it was the second or third port in England for tobacco imports. The tobacco was then sold in the domestic market or re-exported, e.g. to Ireland, France or the Netherlands.
However, after the Acts of Union 1707 united England with Scotland, thereby abolishing excise duties between them, the port of Glasgow began to take over Whitehaven's tobacco trade, leading to the later creation of Glasgow's Tobacco Lords. By the second half of the 18th century there was a marked decline in shipping of tobacco via Whitehaven, and by 1820 the Customs Collector did not mention tobacco in his report on Whitehaven.
Daniel Defoe visited Whitehaven in the 1720s, and wrote that the town had:
"grown up from a small place to be very considerable by the coal trade, that it is now the most eminent port in England for shipping off of coals, except Newcastle and Sunderland and even beyond the last. They have of late fallen into some merchandising also, occasioned by the strange great number of their shipping, and there are now some considerable merchants; but the town is yet but young in trade".
To replace the tobacco trade Whitehaven turned to importing sugar from Barbados, cotton wool from Antigua and coffee and cocoa from St Lucia. Due to the coal trade Whitehaven was, after London, the second port of England in terms of tonnage of shipping from 1750 to 1772. Even by 1835 Whitehaven was still the fifth placed port, with 443 ships registered, but by the end of the 19th century only 68 vessels were registered. Whitehaven was intimately involved with the slave trade and records show slave ships leaving Whitehaven for slave voyages to Africa and America between 1711 and 1767. In 2006, the Copeland Council (Whitehaven's local authority) issued a formal apology for Whitehaven's role in the slave trade.
Rebel patriot John Paul Jones raided the town in 1778, burning some merchant ships in the harbor. 
During the 19th century the port of Whitehaven was overtaken by Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow, as they had better deep-water dock facilities, and were closer to large centres of population and industry. The huge development of a national railway network had also reduced Whitehaven's 18th century competitive advantage of having coal extracted very close to a harbour for shipment by sea.
Whitehaven