In anticipation of changes in South America the firm of J&W Jacob, of Newgate Street, London embarked upon an ambitious trade. In 1807 they sought investors for an expedition to the South Seas to trade contraband fabrics with the closed colonies of Spain's American empire. The Jacobs obtained sufficient investment for three ships to proceed to the Pacific coast, the ship's being the Hero, Pandour, and Memphis. These vessels were registered as whalers and he is listed as having a fourth whaling vessel, the Invention.Jane M. Clayton & Charles A. Clayton, Shipowners investing in the South Seas whale fishery from Britain; 1775 to 1815, Hassobury, 2016, p.147,
