Daniel Brocklebank founded a shipyard in Whitehaven in 1785, and expanded in the following years into operating ships.
[1] The line's operations were based out of Liverpool and run by Thomas Brocklebank, while John ran the Whitehaven shipyard until his death in 1831.
[1] The next generation of Brocklebanks, Thomas Jr. and Ralph, became partners in the business in 1843, and the following year the line reached its peak with a fleet of fifty ships.
[1] In 1865 the shipyard at Whitehaven closed, with most of the line's subsequent ships built at Harland & Wolff.
[1] Cunard suffered financially in the following years, however, and the freight business was eventually shuttered, with the last Brocklebank–flagged ships sold in 1983.