Unlike his older brothers, James Burns turned to commerce, and was joined by his younger brother, Sir George Burns, 1st Baronet (1795–1890), in 1818, setting up as J. & G. Burns, general merchants in Glasgow. After six years, the two brothers moved into shipping, joining with Hugh Mathie of Liverpool to establish a small shipping line of six sailing vessels plying between the two ports. The Clyde was then the leading waterway for steam navigation; within a year James and George Burns had ordered their first steamer, and they quickly replaced all their sail ships by steamboats. While George was mainly interested in the technical aspects of the ships, it was James who was the chief commercial influence in the business, supervising the day-to-day transactions, the negotiation of cargoes and contracts.
