Map, chart

This chart was originally published in 1812 by William Heather, a navigational chart and instrument seller in the City of London. This edition from 1820 has been revised by his former employee John William Norie, who took over Heather's business at the Navigation Warehouse in Leadenhall Street after his death.

The chart shows the voyages made by two East India Company ships, the William Miles and the Marquis of Wellington, between Britain and India. Two trips by the William Miles have been plotted: one from Madras to London in 1820 and a second in the other direction in 1823. A third voyage by the Marquis of Wellington from Madras to London in 1828 has also been recorded. The East India Company's heavily armed ships, known as 'East Indiamen', were the largest ships in the world. By the time this chart was used the East India Company had lost its monopoly over trade with India and so for the first time faced competition from other shipping companies.