Abstract

In this paper we are interested in the role of the port of Talcahuano in the global whaling trade during the first half of the 19th century, with its ship owners, merchants, crew, dockers, customs, port facilities, equipment, etc. We will examine the characteristics of the port of Talcahuano and the particularities of its whaling industry. We will study the data provided by the population census of 1842 and the commercial reports from the port’s customs office. It is also relevant to discuss the way in which local society faces the difficulties experienced by the decline of the industry in the second half of the 19th century and the decrease in the presence of foreign whalers in the bay. We used as a source of information the descriptions made by travelers who were in the port of Talcahuano in the 19th century, the data from the 1854 Census, and the news about this problem that appeared in the Concepción newspapers at the same time.