The son of a merchant, Cunard himself had amassed a sizable fortune by his early 40s from banking, lumber, coal, and iron. He had also built a merchant fleet of about 40 vessels. From 1830 he laid plans to establish a mail service between England and North America, running steamers from Liverpool to Halifax, and thence to Boston. Cunard went to England in 1838 when the British government opened the bidding on contracts for such a transatlantic line. The following year, in partnership with Sir George Burns (Burns, Sir George, Baronet) of Glasgow and David MacIver of Liverpool, he established the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, generally known as the Cunard Line. Its first ship, the Unicorn, set out for America on May 15, 1840. The first mail steamer was the Britannia, which left Liverpool on July 4, 1840. Later Cunard ships included the famed Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Elizabeth II. He was created a baronet in 1859.