He was the shipper of the first cargo of "free teas" to London on the expiry of the close monopoly of the East India Company. The "hong" merchants with whom, chiefly, he transacted his business were "Mowqua" and "Conseequa," though old books still in the possession of the firm show that large transactions in tea and silk were put through also with the well-known "hong merchant Howqua." One of the firm's chief constituents in India was Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, who later became the celebrated Parsee Baronet. His business transactions with Jardine, Matheson & Co. were on a colossal scale.
On Dr. Jardine's departure from Canton, the entire foreign community entertained him at a dinner in the dining room of the old East India Company's factory, about eighty persons of all nationalities being present. Dr. Jardine was succeeded in the management of the firm by Mr. James Matheson, who finally left China in 1842. Mr. James Matheson was a gentleman of great suavity of manner and the personification of benevolence. Following Mr. James Matheson came his nephew, Alexander (afterwards Sir Alexander Matheson, Bart., of Ardross), who had received his early business training in India, joining his uncle in Canton in 1835.
(Demolished October, 1907.)
In 1842, having been driven out of Macao owing to the shortsighted policy of the Portuguese authorities, the firm transferred its headquarters to the then almost barren island of Hongkong, where the isolated promontory and hill of East Point were purchased, substantial offices, godowns and dwelling houses erected, and a slipway laid down for the hauling up and repairing of the fleet of schooners and brigs employed by the firm in the coasting trade of that day. The offices erected at that time continued to be used as such by the firm until the year 1864, when a move was made to a more central part of the town, the buildings thereafter being used as junior mess quarters. The dwelling houses erected for the senior and junior partners at East Point, now probably the oldest houses in the Colony, are situated on a hill some 200 feet in height overlooking the harbour, and surrounded by an unusually large compound containing a very fine avenue of trees. Though erected nearly seventy years ago, these houses are still in excellent condition, their wide verandahs, spacious and lofty rooms and passages, and finely dressed stone exterior bearing evidence of the good work performed by the Chinese workmen of 1842.
On the retirement of Mr. Alexander Matheson in 1852, the firm was successively ruled by Messrs. Andrew, David, Joseph, and Robert (afterwards Sir Robert Jardine, Bart., of Castlemilk) Jardine, all nephews of the founder of the house, and all of whom worthily maintained their uncle's reputation for shrewdness and business capacity combined with benevolence, love of sport, and hospitality.
With the advent of steam and telegraphs, the method of conducting business in the Far East underwent radical change, and to a very great extent the "merchant" was displaced by the "commission agent." Those controlling the policy of Jardine, Matheson & Co. were, fortunately, shrewd enough to fall into line with the altered state of affairs before it was too late, and thus escaped the disaster which overtook so many of the grand old China houses.
From its early days, a fundamental principle of the "Muckle Hoos" has been that its senior positions should be filled, and the controlling influence exercised, by the immediate relations and descendants of its founders. So far, there has never been wanting a cadet of either family successfully to guide the destinies of the enterprise so well initiated by these shrewd and able Scots.
With all that concerns the welfare of the Colony of Hongkong those connected with Jardine, Matheson & Co. have ever been closely identified. Streets bear the name of long-departed partners, the City Hall was built mainly owing to the public-spirited generosity of Sir Robert Jardine, while on the Legislative and Executive Councils it has been seldom indeed that the firm's representative has not held a seat.
For the past forty years the active management of the firm's affairs has been in the hands of Mr. William Keswick, M.P., a kinsman of Sir Robert Jardine. Under his management the firm has prospered and extended its branches to every Treaty port in China, to Japan, and to the United States.
In 1905, Sir Robert Jardine died, and for family reasons the firm was then turned into a private Limited Liability Company, the first governing director being the present Baronet, Sir R. W. Buchanan-Jardine, with Messrs. Wm. Keswick, M.P., W. J. Gresson, and Henry Keswick as its managing directors. The following is a list of partners in this firm from its commencement to the present day:—Dr. William Jardine, Sir James Matheson, Bart., Mr. H. Magniac, Sir Alexander Matheson, Bart., Mr. Andrew Johnstone, Mr. H. Wright, Mr. Andrew Jardine, Mr. Wm. Stewart, Mr. A. G. Dallas, Mr. David Jardine, Mr. Joseph Jardine, Mr. A. C. Maclean, Mr. Donald Matheson, Mr. A. Perceval, Sir Robert Jardine, Bart., Mr. J. C. Bowring, Mr. M. A. Macleod, Mr. J. Macandrew, Mr. James Whittall, Mr. Wm. Keswick, Mr. H. St. L. Magniac, Mr. R. A. Houstoun, Mr. E. Whittall, Mr. F. Bulkeley-Johnston, Mr. J. J. Keswick, Mr. Wm. Paterson, Mr. John Bell-Irving, Mr. Herbert Smith, Mr. James J. Bell-Irving, Mr. John Macgregor, Sir Edward Alford, Mr. A. P. MacEwen, Mr. C. W. Dickson, Mr. Robert Inglis, Mr. W. J. Gresson, Mr. Henry Keswick, Mr. David Landale, Mr. W. A. C. Cruickshank, Sir R. W. Huchanan-Jardine, Bart., Mr. James McKie, Mr. C. H. Ross.
BUTTERFIELD & SWIRE.
The firm of Butterfield & Swire commenced business at Shanghai in 1867, and opened an office at Hongkong in 1870. To-day it has branches at Canton, Swatow, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, Chinkiang, Nanking, Wuhu, Kiukiang, Hankow, Ichang, Chefoo, Tientsin, and Newchwang, and at Kobe and Yokohama in Japan. Messrs. Buttertield & Swire are managers in the East for the China Navigation Company, Ltd., for the Taikoo Sugar Refining Company, Ltd., and for the Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company of Hongkong, Ltd. The China Navigation Company's fleet of over sixty steamers, with its headquarters at Shanghai, is chiefly employed trading on the coast and rivers of China. Regular services are also maintained between Shanghai and Japan, Hongkong and Australia, and Hongkong and the Philippines. The Taikoo Sugar Refining Company's refinery, situated at Hongkong, has capacity for producing a large quantity of refined sugar. The Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company's works, situated on the island of Hongkong, within half-an-hour's journey of the city of Victoria, are extensive and modern, fully equipped for every description of building and repair work. The dry dock measures 750 feet on the blocks, and there are also three patent slips, each capable of accommodating vessels up to 3,000 tons register. Messrs. Butterfield & Swire are agents in China and Japan for the Ocean Steamship Company, Ltd., and for the China Mutual Steam Navigation Company, Ltd.
