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Sir Walter Randolph Carpenter (1877–1954) was an Australian-Canadian pearl hunting, trader, merchant, ship-owner, airline industry leader and philanthropist of American ancestry active in the western Pacific from the 1890s through the 1940s. ==Career== In 1891, Carpenter left school at age 14 to join the Sydney office of Burns, Philp & Co, Limited. In 1895, he was transferred to the firm's office at Esperance, Western Australia, and in 1896 to the Thursday Island, Queensland office.〔 In 1899, he resigned from Burns Philp, bought three luggers and established a family pearl-shelling business, J. B. Carpenter & Sons Ltd., of which he was managing director. In 1908, leaving his brother William Carpenter in charge, he left Thursday Island and rejoined Burns Philp. After a year at the company's offices in Sydney, he moved to Fiji and managed a subsidiary company purchased by Burns Philp.〔 In 1914 he formed the firm of W. R. Carpenter & Co. Ltd. in Sydney, and began establishing plantations, stores, trading stations, shipping services in the Southwest Pacific.〔〔The Carpenter Group: ''A Proud Tradition'', http://www.carpenters.com.fj/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=35, accessed 12 Dec 2011.〕 When World War I erupted, he capitalized on the importance of copra for making munitions and as a food, and took enormous risks with resulting large profits which enabled his company to expand into New Guinea when the Australian government expropriated German property. The company branched out as major storekeepers, traders, and property owners in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, establishing W. R. Carpenter & Co. (Papua New Guinea) Ltd. in 1919 and W. R. Carpenter & Co. (Solomon Islands) Ltd. in 1922.〔WR Carpenter (PNG) Group of Companies: ''About Us'', http://www.carpenters.com.pg/wrc/aboutus.html, accessed 12 Dec 2011.〕〔Deryck Scarr: ''Fiji, A Short History'', George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd., Hemel Hempstead, Herts, England, p. 122, which misidentifies him as Walter ''Raleigh'' Carpenter.〕〔MBf Holdings Berhad: ''About Us'', http://www.mbfh.com.my/aboutus.htm, accessed 12 Dec 2011.〕 In New Guinea, Carpenter took advantage of the development of the Morobe gold fields to acquire hotels in Wau and Bulolo, set up electrical power plants and cold storage facilities, and operate a fleet of inter-island steamers and a desiccated-coconut factory. In 1933 he established the first air service between Salamaua and Wau with two De Havilland Fox Moth aircraft, followed in 1934 by a direct shipping line between Australia, the Western Pacific, and European ports. In 1935 he launched an insurance company and in 1936 expanded his airline through a government-subsidized route between Rabaul and Australia.〔 At the outbreak of World War II Carpenter's ships and aircraft were commandeered by Australian and British forces, so in 1940 he travelled to the United States and purchased two freighters which he operated in the Pacific free of European control. He formed a new company in Canada and built a copra-crushing mill near Vancouver to access the North American market. His buildings and plantations in New Guinea and the Solomon, Gilbert, and Ellice islands were destroyed when Japan entered the war, but he continued to benefit from wartime prosperity in Fiji, and later received compensation for war damage to his holdings.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Walter Randolph Carpenter」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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