George W. Blunt

George William Blunt (11 Mar 1802 – 19 Apr 1878) was a pioneer publisher of nautical charts and books for the company, E & G. W. Blunt. He was Secretary of the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the New York harbor from 1845-1877). For over 40 years he served as first assistant in theUnited States Coast Survey and made surveys of the New York harbor and theBahama banks. He was instrumental in gaining reforms in the United States Lighthouse Service. His firm published many editions ofBowditch's Navigator andBlunt's American Coast Pilot.

He was born on March 14, 1802 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the son of the author Edmund March Blunt. He married Martha Garsett on December 22, 1821. They had two daughters.

He and his brother, Edmund Blunt (1799-1866), went into business with their father, Edmund March Blunt, at E & G. W. Blunt Publishing, a well known publishing house of marine works. He authored many books and charts. He wrote the Memoir of the dangers and ice in the North Atlantic Ocean (1845), The Way to Avoid the Centre of Our Violent Gales (1868), and Pilot Laws, Harbor and Quarantine Regulations of New York (1869). Blunt's books were provided to the United States Hydrographic Office.

The firm closed in 1872 and sold the chart copyrights and plates to the Coast Survey and U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office.

In 1845, Blunt was appointed to the Board of Commissioners of Pilots and became Secretary of the Board. He helped to organized the pilot service in New York Harbor. He was elected by the Chamber of Commerce to the New York Board of Commissioners of Pilots from 1868-1870. The "Sandy-Hook Pilot's License" was issued by the Board of Commissioners of Pilots.

The pilot boat, George W. Blunt, No. 11 was named after him. The pilot boat Moses H. Grinnell was owned by George W. Blunt. It was built in 1850 and designed by George Steers.

In May 1869, Blunt became a trustee of the Nautical School for the harbor of New York. Its purpose was to educate boys in seamanship and navigation. He was elected again in 1871 and in 1874.Ellwood Walter was also a trustee during this time and shared the same interest in seamanship and navigation.

He died on April 19, 1878 in Manhattan, New York, New York, and was bureid at the Green-wood cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.