Jardine
Matheson Holdings - (en)
Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (SGX: J36, LSE: JAR), often called
Jardines or Jardine's, is a multinational corporation that is incorporated
in Bermuda. While listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Singapore
Exchange, the vast majority of Jardines shares are traded in Singapore.
Currently Jardines consists of the following companies: Jardine Pacific,
Jardine Motors Group, Jardine Lloyd Thompson, Jardine Strategic, Dairy
Farm, Hongkong Land, Mandarin Oriental, and Jardine Cycle & Carriage,
Astra International.
Overview
Jardine, Matheson & Co. has a rather seedy beginning. It was founded
in Canton on 1 July 1832, following a meeting between William Jardine and
another Scots trader, James Matheson from Sutherland. In 1834, the pair
sent the first private shipments of China tea to England; another big
export to the UK was silk. In return, they illegally traded opium to the
Chinese. Jardine Matheson’s early profits were based on this trading of
Indian opium into China. When the Chinese emperor tried to ban the trade,
the company called on Britain to compel China to compensate for the
confiscated goods, leading in 1840 to two Opium Wars.
Early History
In 1802, Dr. William Jardine was practicing medicine on British East India
Company vessels sailing between Calcutta and Canton. Under a charter
granted in the seventeenth century by Charles I of England, the directors
in London's Leadenhall Street held a monopoly on British trade between
India and China. It was customary, however, for the Company's servants to
conduct a certain amount of private business of their own. In order to
regularise this, the East India Company allowed each officer and member of
the crew a space about equal to two chests; what the men did with this
space was their own business. Using this space, the doctor soon discovered
that trading illegal narcotics was far more lucrative than doctoring. It
was during these early days that William Jardine found himself onboard a
ship captured by the French with all cargo seized. However, what was to
become a highly lucrative partnership was formed with a fellow passenger,
a Parsee Indian called Jamset Jejeebhouy. They became good friends,
becoming prominent in their respective business fields and forming a
trading relationship that was to endure for many years to come.
In Canton, Dr. Jardine met a naturalised Briton of Huguenot extraction
named Hollingworth Magniac and learned that there were ways by which, to a
small extent, the monopoly of the East India Company could be circumvented.
In 1817, Jardine left his first employers and began the struggle towards
establishing his own private firm.
In the meantime, James Matheson was in his uncle's business in Calcutta.
His uncle one day entrusted him with a letter to be delivered to the
captain of a British vessel which was on the point of departure. James
forgot to deliver the letter, and the vessel sailed. His uncle was
incensed at this negligence, and it was suggested that young James had
better go home. He took his uncle at his word and went to engage a passage
to England "Why not try Canton instead?" an old skipper advised
him.
James Matheson did try Canton. And it was there, in 1818, that he met
Jardine. The two men formed a partnership which included also Hollingworth
Magniac and Beale, an English inventor of clocks and automata. At first
they dealt only with Bombay and Calcutta, the so-called "country
trade," but later they extended their business to London.
The activities of these four men made an important contribution towards
bringing to an end, in 1834, the monopoly of the East India Company in
China.
Establishment of the private firm of Jardine, Matheson & Co.
For a long time the British East India Company had been growing
increasingly unpopular in Britain. Men such as Sheridan, Elliot, Charles
James Fox, Windham, and Edmund Burke were its bitter enemies. Many British
people believed that freedom of the seas and freedom of trade were
synonymous. They had fought for years to establish this freedom, only to
see it threatened by a King's charter to a group of London merchants.
Further, certain high-handed methods used by the East India Company in
dealing with competitors aroused the moral indignation of the British at
home.
Nevertheless, open competition with the East India Company was risky
business. The Company was empowered to punish transgressors
vigorously--even to the extent of hanging. Occasionally, free traders did
manage to secure a license from the Company to engage in the "country
trade," usually with India, but never with Britain. In rare instances,
other free traders, called "interlopers," competed with the
Company. The interlopers usually were friends of the Government in England
from which they had been able to obtain some form of charter of their own.
Sooner or later, however, the East India Company always managed to have
these other charters revoked.
There was one method, however, by which a Briton could establish a
business on the East India Company's preserves. He could accept the
consulship of a foreign country and register under its laws. This method
was employed by Jardine to establish himself in Canton. Magniac had
obtained an appointment from the King of Prussia, and later James Matheson
represented Denmark and Hawaii. On this basis the partners had nothing to
fear from the Company; in fact, relations between these two and the East
India Company seemed in time to have become amicable. It is recorded that
when ships of the East India Company were detained outside the harbour by
the authorities, Jardine offered his services "without fee or reward."
These services saved the East India Company a considerable sum of money
and earned for Jardine the Company's gratitude.
By 1830, the enemies of the East India Company had begun to triumph, and
its hold on trade with the East had weakened noticeably. Furthermore, at
this time, both Magniac and Beale were getting ready to retire. In 1832,
two years before the East India Company finally was dissolved, William
Jardine and James Matheson entered into formal partnership as a private
firm, Jardine, Matheson & Co.
Establishment of the Firm in Hong Kong
In 1834, the first free ship, Jardines' Sarah, left Whampoa with a cargo
of tea for London. This was the signal that showed the East India Company
was no longer a power in the East, and was immediately followed by a rush
from to participate in the fast developing China trade, which was centered
on tea. From the middle of the seventeenth century this drink had been
growing in popularity in Britain and the British colonies, but the trade
in teas was far from simple. Due to the rapacious British tax collector,
the tax on tea was often as much as two hundred percent of the value. This
exorbitant taxation gave rise to widespread smuggling which became an
additional hazard to legitimate business. To profit in the China trade one
had to be ahead of all competition, both legitimate and otherwise. Each
year, fast ships from Britain, Europe, and America lay ready at the
Chinese ports to load the first of the new season's teas. The ships raced
home with their precious cargoes, each attempting to be the first to reach
the consumer markets, thereby obtaining the premium prices offered for the
early deliveries.
Jardines became so well established they commanded an enviable portion of
the China trade. Raw and manufactured goods were imported from India and
the United Kingdom. Teas and silks were exported.
In 1842, the Firm built the first substantial house and established their
head office on the recently acquired island of Hongkong. This began an era
of increased prosperity and expansion. New offices soon were opened in the
trading centres of Shanghai, Foochow, and Tientsin. Since then Jardines
have never ceased to expand.
William Keswick, the young nephew of Dr. Jardine, was sent to Japan in
1858 to open up trading for the Firm. He established an office in
Yokohama. In Japan, Jardines also expanded rapidly and additional offices
were opened -- in Kobe, Nagasaki, and other ports. From the beginning, a
large and profitable business was conducted in imports, exports, shipping,
and insurance.
By the end of the nineteenth century, business in the Far East no longer
was confined to simple trading. Industrial expansion had begun. In its
wake, the Indo-China Steam Navigation Company had been formed. To aid
further in this development, Jardines had created insurance companies.
They built cotton mills. Great wharves and warehouses were set up. Cold
storage and press packing plants for China's widening export trade were
erected. A more recent example of enterprise was the building of Ewo
Brewery in 1935. The directors of Jardines have built a great modern
business structure on the foundation so solidly laid by the pioneers of
the Firm.
War and Reconstruction
In 1932, after the first Japanese attack on China, the Firm closed its
offices in Manchuria; when the Japanese went in, Jardines walked out. When
the war came in 1941, the Japanese took over all Jardines interests in
Hongkong and occupied China--but not before offices of the Firm had been
established in Chungking, Kunming, and Bombay. Contact with the war-time
world of Chinese official and commercial life thus was maintained. The
house flag was kept flying.
Immediately on cessation of hostilities, the staff from these offices and
from internment camps in China were first in the field recovering the
Firm's properties from the Japanese forces.
In the summer of 1947, as soon as the authorities permitted, Jardines
re-entered Japan. From that date, the task of re-establishing their former
wide interests in that country has been under way.
In Formosa (Taiwan) Jardines have maintained offices since early in the
last quarter of the nineteenth century. Today the Taipei office not only
is the leading tea exporter to Europe, Asia, and America, but also is
engaged in shipping and in general export and import business.
Scottish Leadership
Jardines is controlled by the Keswick (pronounced with a silent 'w',
"Kezzick") family who are direct descendants of William
Jardine's sister.
While the leadership of Jardines is Scottish through and through, the Firm
is international in its dealings. The staff of Jardines (in January 2006
standing at 232,000 employees world-wide) is predominantly Asian, with the
senior levels being a mixture of British, Chinese, Indonesian, European,
Australian and American.
The Keswicks have maintained a relationship with another prominent
Scottish family, the Flemings. From 1970 until 1998, Jardine Matheson
operated a pan-Asian investment banking joint venture, Jardine Fleming,
with Robert Fleming & Co., a London merchant bank controlled by the
Fleming family. Jardine Fleming was sold to JP Morgan Chase in 2000 along
with Robert Fleming & Co.
The Shipping Interests
From the earliest days of the Firm, shipping can justly claim to have been
the most prominent among the many and varied enterprises of Jardines.
It was the practice of Jardines to possess the fastest and best-handled
ships that money could buy. The Firm did this in order that its leading
position could not be assailed. In the early days, it was often possible
to make a fortune with the exclusive possession of market or budget news
for a period even so brief as a few hours. Conversely, a fortune could be
lost if the despatches from home were late. The keen competition for
faster and more efficient shipping helped immeasurably in the rapid
development of trade with the Far East. It was due largely, to the
excellence of the fleet that Jardines outlived all rivals. In the days of
the sailing ships, many of the most famous clippers were those of the
Company's fleet. Among these were illustrious names such as "Red
Rover", "Falcon", and "Sylph". The last-named
clipper made a sailing record that was never beaten. It sailed from
Calcutta to Lintin in the Pearl River estuary in seventeen days, seventeen
hours.
The first merchant steamer in China, the Jardine, was built to order for
the Firm in 1835. She was a small vessel intended for use as a mail and
passenger carrier between Lintin, Macao, and Whampoa. However, after
several trips, the Chinese authorities, for reasons best known to
themselves, prohibited her entrance into the river. She perforce had to be
sent to Singapore.
The first steam ships owned by Jardines ran chiefly between Calcutta and
the Chinese ports. They were fast enough so that they could make the
1,400-mile trip in two days less than the P. & O. vessels.
As time passed, more and more ships were procured for Jardines' fleet. The
ports of call extended as conditions allowed. The Firm was among the first
to send ships to Japan, and at an early date established a regular service
between Yokohama, Kobe, and China's ports.
Until 1881, the India and China coastal and river services were operated
by several companies. In that year, however, these were merged into the
Indo-China Steam Navigation Company, Ltd., a public company under the
management of Jardines. The activities of this company extended from India
to Japan, including the Straits Settlements, Borneo, and, of course, the
China coast. In the latter sphere, the "Indo-China" developed
rapidly. The company pushed inland up the Yangtsze River on which a
specially designed fleet was built to meet all requirements of the river
trade. For many years, this fleet gave unequalled service.
Jardines established an enviable reputation for the efficient handling of
shipping. As a result, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company invited the
Firm to attend to the Agency of their Shire Line which operated in the Far
East. This occurred shortly before the First World War and necessitated a
further expansion of the Firm's shipping organisation. Today, no less than
fifteen internationally known British, Canadian, and United States
shipping companies entrust their agencies to this organisation.
In China, the bulk of freight emanates from domestic sources. On account
of this an efficient and well-connected Chinese staff is maintained at all
Jardines' branches. These branches are continuously in touch with the
special features and tendencies of the Chinese markets.
With the disappearance of Japanese competition as a result of the war, and
with the resurrection of China's merchant navy, shipping conditions in the
Far East have changed vastly. The business demands an extreme degree of
flexibility in the operation of foreign shipping. Jardines possess a rich
fund of experience which was gained in the pioneering years of the last
century and which extends through two world wars to the uncertainties of
the present day. Jardines' shipping organisation offers unequalled service
to shipowners, not only in the great ports of Hongkong and Shanghai, but
at every major coast port in China and also in Japan. In addition, since
World War II, the Firm has been operating the Australia-China Line, an
enterprise owned jointly with Commons Bros., Ltd., of Newcastle. This line
runs from Australia to Hongkong and Shanghai.
Jardines are leaders also in Sino-foreign shipping co-operation.
Interests in Wharves and Warehouses
Hong Kong
On the initiative of Jardines and the late Sir Paul Chater, the Hongkong
& Kowloon Wharf & Godown Company was formed in 1886. Since that
date, the chairmanship of the board has been held by the managing director
of Jardines.
At the property known as Kowloon Point, ten ocean-going vessels of up to
thirty-two feet draught can be berthed regardless of the state of the tide.
At the West Point property on Hongkong Island itself, one coastal vessel
can be accommodated.
Kowloon Point provides storage space for about 750,000 tons of cargo. The
transit sheds have been designed specially to provide maximum light and
sorting space. The godowns are six-storeyed, of reinforced concrete, and
are fully equipped with cargo lifts and cranes. A treasury, or strong room,
capable of storing up to 500 measurement tons of bullion or other valuable
cargo, is a part of the facilities offered.
The company also operates a launch and lighter fleet for the discharge of
vessels at buoys and for general transshipment work.
Shanghai
Following an amalgamation of several local wharves in 1875, Jardine,
Matheson & Co. were appointed general managers of the Shanghai &
Hongkew Wharf Co., Ltd. In 1883, the Old Ningpo Wharf was added, and in
1890 the Pootung Wharf was purchased to complete the Company's already
extensive properties. For three quarters of a century, therefore, Jardines
have served the great port of Shanghai.
The Company owns some 3,000 feet of the most valuable wharf frontage on
the Shanghai side of the river. On the opposite, or Pudong (Pootung), side
their frontage extends to 2,550. The wharves are capable of accommodating
ten large ocean-going vessels at a time.
Before the Pacific War, the Company possessed godown, or warehouse, space
of 2,505,000 square feet. Unfortunately there was considerable destruction
by the Japanese. Rehabilitation progressed rapidly, however, and the
standard of efficient working for which the company is well known has been
re-established.
Railway Building in China
1898 also saw the formation by Jardines and HSBC of the British and China
Corporation ('BCC') which was responsible for much of the development of
China's railway system.
Airways Department
Keeping abreast of the times, Jardines have opened an Airways Department.
Whether acting as general agents, traffic handling, or booking agents, the
Firm gives the same efficient service to international air lines as their
shipping organisation for the past half century has been giving to ocean
shipping companies of the world.
The Firm has formed in Hongkong an Air Maintenance Company which will
bring the most up-to-date technical and maintenance facilities to the many
air lines operating from and through Hongkong.
The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) appointed Jardines as
their general agents for Hongkong and China.
Please see Wikipedia entry for Hong Kong Airways for more contemporary
information on Jardine Airways
Insurance Interests
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group "JLT" is 30% owned by Jardine
Matheson and is the vehicle for Jardines participation in this business
field. Insurance was one of the first lines of business undertaken by
Jardines in 19th century China.
Companies
The Jardine Engineering Corporation, Ltd.
The Jardine Engineering Corporation, Ltd. was founded in 1923 as a private
limited company. Its purpose was to take over the business of importing
machinery into China. Previously, this had been done by the Firm's
Engineering Department. The new company was formed in order to be in a
position to cater more efficiently to the evergrowing needs of the
Chinese. This policy has resulted in the development of a large and
vigorous corporation. Offices have been established in Shanghai, Hongkong,
Tientsin, Chungking, and Nanking, and further branches are being created
as the need for this company's services becomes apparent. The Corporation
represents many of the greatest engineering and manufacturing names in the
world. A complete field of engineering and equipment requirements is
covered.
Ewo Cold Storage Company
The Jardines-owned Ewo Cold Storage Company was established in 1920 on the
Shanghai river front for the manufacture and export of dried eggs. Two or
three years later, extensions were made to permit the processing of liquid
and shell eggs, as well. Since then, each year, large quantities of these
products have been prepared under the most hygienic conditions for
shipment abroad, mainly to the United Kingdom.
During the past quarter century, export trade in eggs and egg products has
become an increasingly important factor in China's economy. Immediately
prior to the outbreak of the Pacific War, egg trading was high in the list
of leading exports. During the war, the Japanese occupation forces gravely
diminished the stock of poultry. However, this handicap was quickly
overcome, for poultry production in China was never confined to large
centres, difficult to reconstruct; instead it is chiefly in innumerable
small units scattered over vast areas.
Ewo Cotton Mills, Ltd.
Ewo Cotton Mills, Ltd., is a limited liability company (registered in
Hongkong), managed by Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd. The Firm was first
in the field in the cotton industry in China, having established the Ewo
Cotton Spinning and Weaving Co. in Shanghai in 1895. Subsequently two
other mills were started up in Shanghai--the Yangtszepoo Cotton Mill and
the Kung Yik Mill. In 1921 these three companies were amalgamated as Ewo
Cotton Mills, Ltd., which concern operated 175,000 cotton spindles and
3,200 looms before the war. In addition the Company extended its
activities to include the manufacture of waste cotton products, jute
materials, and worsted yarns and cloths. The Company suffered considerable
loss of machinery during the war, but its products, which have always
enjoyed a high reputation, are back on the market again.
Ewo Press Packing Company
Under the name of Ewo Yuen Press Packing Company, the Ewo Press Packing
Company was established in Shanghai in the year 1907. It was then owned
jointly by Jardines and a Chinese partner. This partner decided to retire,
and in 1919 Jardines became sole proprietors under the present name. The
company operates a total floor space of 125,000 square feet, providing a
normal annual output of 40,000 to 50,000 bales. Double this quantity has
been achieved in peak years. The activities of the concern cover raw
cotton, cotton yarn, waste silk, wool, hides, goatskins, and other
commodities for which press packing for shipment or storage is suitable.
In addition to the packing facilities offered by the company, well-lighted
and airy rooms are available to the public for sorting, grading, and
storage of all types of cargo.
The plant is advantageously situated near the mouth of the well-known
Soochow Creek. Whether the merchandise is destined for inland, the coast,
or abroad, this location provides economical and ready access to the
transporting vessels lying in the harbour of Shanghai.
Ewo Breweries, Limited
Although it is the youngest of Jardines' enterprises, Ewo Breweries,
Limited, is already as flourishing a concern as any controlled by the
firm. It was founded in 1935, its production commenced in 1936, and Ewo
Breweries became a public company under Jardines' management in 1940. The
brewery, built on the outskirts of Shanghai, passed unscathed through two
Japanese wars, in 1937 and 1941-45, and during the first of them it was in
the centre of hostilities; however, the staff kept to their posts, and the
products from time to time found their way through the Japanese lines on
to their own markets.
The brewery produces Pilsner and Munich types of beers, both being
suitable to Far Eastern climatic conditions: The brewery is recognised as
the finest and most up-to-date in the Far East, where the popularity of
its brews is unrivalled.
Export & Import Departments
Tea
Tea is the most romantic of all China's trades and always must remain
inseparably linked in memory to the hey-day of the racing clippers. Now,
as in the first half of the nineteenth century, Jardines are the leading
shippers. Their connection with this trade dates from 1801 when the
forerunners of the Firm secured the first free license to exports teas to
New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. When the monopoly held by the East
India Company finally was broken, Jardines were again to the fore, this
time trading under their own name. The Firm despatched the first teas to
London, Liverpool, and Glasgow. Trading offices are located now in
Shanghai, Hongkong, Foochow, Taipei, and Hankow.
From picturesque old Foochow and the beautiful island of Formosa, as well
as from the godowns on the Shanghai Bund, ocean steamers once again are
carrying valuable cargoes of Jardines' teas. The chests of teas are
labeled with Old World names such as Keemuns. Soochongs, Oolongs,
Gunpowders, and Chun Meas, and are borne to the Mincing Lane and the
tea-cups of Europe, Africa, and America.
Silk
The Silk Room, operating in Shanghai, is one of the oldest of the offices
within Jardines' organisation. For over a century, the Firm has been
shipping raw silk from Shanghai. Before the war, silk was shipped from
Japan to America, France, Switzerland, England, and elsewhere. Also, for
many years before the war, the Firm operated its own Ewo Silk Filature.
Silk inspectors are highly specialised skilled technicians. Usually, they
are of Swiss or Italian descent. The Swiss who heads this Department of
Jardines today is acknowledged to be the doyen of the silk men in China.
CHINA PRODUCE: The China Produce Department for many years has exported
the raw materials of China everywhere abroad. To ensure the maintenance of
Jardines' standards, large warehouses were constructed in Shanghai,
Tientsin, Tsingtao, Hankow, and Hongkong, all of these cities being the
trading centres for vast producing areas. The interests of the Department,
accordingly, cover the products of the cold north, such as wool, furs,
soya beans, oils, and oilseeds and bristles; the produce of the vast
agricultural centre, which includes tung and other vegetable oils and
oilseeds, egg products, bristles, and beans; and also the marketable yield
of the sunny south, its tung oil, aniseed, cassia, and ginger. And these
are only a few of the commodities which pass through Jardines from China
to the markets of the world. Knowledge of individual processing and
marketing requirements of these articles takes many years to acquire.
Jardines' vast experience in these lines extends throughout the entire
period of China's trading relations with the outside world.
IMPORTS: The main centres of Jardines' extensive and well-known import
business are Hongkong and Shanghai, but the Department is fully
represented in all of the Firm's branches. In the early days, the
principal interest was piece goods, but expansion in many and varied
directions has developed as China more and more showed desire to share in
the goods manufactured and produced by countries far from her shores.
The range of commodities handled by this Department is amazingly wide. It
runs the gamut from timber to foodstuffs, from textiles to medicines, from
metals to fertilizers, and from wines and spirits to the cosmetic
requirements of a lady's boudoir.
The Import Departments in recent years formed a section for the export of
Chinese articles manufactured from silks and linens. This has developed
into an increasing business, with an ever-broadening scope of articles of
all descriptions.
The Development of the Colony of Hong Hong by Jardine, Matheson & Co.
At the mouth of the Pearl River, about ninety miles from Canton, there
stands a small island. It is separated from the mainland by a strip of
water which, at the narrowest point, is only a quarter of a mile wide. As
late as 1840, the island seemed to have no potential development value
except perhaps to a few visionaries. The island lies just below the Tropic
of Cancer, and its climate was always thought to be hot, humid, and
unhealthy. In area the island is less than thirty square miles, and it
rises steeply from the water. No one lived there except a few stonecutters
and fishermen whose huts were scattered along the southern shore, and it
was suspected that the island was a hiding place for pirates. Its only
recommendation was a natural deep-water harbour. It was this island,
together with a small strip of China's mainland that was ceded to Great
Britain by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842.
Despite all obstacles of terrain and climate, in spite of opposition from
many of the Canton merchants, this outpost was developed with almost
incredible rapidity. Today, on the northern slopes of the island,
close-packed roofs of the city blot out the natural landscape. The harbour,
world-famous for its beauty, presents a scene of bustling activity,
vessels from the earth's four corners come and go, small steamers sail to
and from Canton, and ferryboats hurry back and forth from the mainland.
The island has become a great port and trading centre in the Far
East--Hongkong.
James Matheson had long believed in the future of Hongkong. His enthusiasm
was not shared by many of his fellow merchants. Understandably, they
preferred not to abandon their comfortable residences on Canton's Praya
Grande for the bleak slopes of Hongkong Island. Bad luck made matters
worse for the early builders of Victoria. In quick succession, two
typhoons and two fires flattened the new settlement. An epidemic of
virulent malaria almost succeeded in returning the island to the oblivion
from which it had risen. For years, the Canton Press in Macao never lost
an opportunity to ridicule and slander the venture. Even Queen Victoria
was unimpressed with her new acquisition. Once she wrote in gentle sarcasm
to the King of the Belgians:"--Albert is so much amused at my having
got the island of Hongkong, and we think Victoria ought to be called
Princess of Hongkong as well as Princess Royal." Nevertheless, the
founders refused to be discouraged.
On 14 June 1841, the first lots were sold on Hongkong. At the instigation
of James Matheson, three of these lots, comprising 57,150 square feet,
were purchased for the sum of Pounds 565, and Jardines set up one of the
first offices to be established in the new colony. In the beginning, the
settlement consisted of hastily constructed mat sheds and wooden buildings.
Jardines built the first house of consequence. It was erected at East
Point, and the Firm still retains most of the original property. Among the
buildings that can be seen there today is one of the old warehouses with
the date 1843 engraved in the stone above the door.
Throughout the history of Hongkong, Jardines have played a large part in
all the affairs of the colony. In June, 1850, David Jardine was one of the
first two unofficial members of the Legislative Council. Hongkong is the
head office of the Company, and, on many occasions, the managing directors
have been members of both the legislative and executive councils of the
government. The Firm has been closely connected with every phase of
Hongkong's development. Many of the essential services that are operating
at present owe their inception to the Firm. The Indo-China Steam
Navigation Co., Ltd., has its head office in Hongkong. The chairmanship of
the boards of directors of the Hongkong Land Investment Co., Ltd., the
Hongkong & Kowloon Wharf & Godown Co., Ltd., the Star Ferry Co.,
Ltd., and the Hong Kong Tramways, Ltd., has always been held by the
managing director of Jardines in Hongkong.
There are numerous landmarks which denote the part that has been played by
the seniors of the Firm in the history of this thriving community. In the
early days, fevers and plagues were a constant menace to the dwellers in
Hongkong, and, the heat during the summer months was difficult to bear.
The directors of the Firm were pioneers in building residences on the Peak
where living is more pleasant and healthful.
"Jardines' Corner" is well known to the inhabitants of Hongkong,
but chief among the place names associated with the Firm is a hill top
known as "Jardine's Lookout." It was from here, in the days of
the sailing ships, that a watch was kept for the first glimpse of the
sails of the Firm's clippers coming from India and London. As soon as a
vessel was signalled, a fast whaleboat was sent out to collect Jardines'
mails. The correspondence was rushed back to the office so that the
directors could have the first possible information on the world's markets.
The same speed, efficiency, and enterprise of those early days still
persist, and are responsible for the solid foundation on which Jardines
now stand. Thus, the Firm's position as the leading foreign commercial
enterprise in China remains unchallenged.
Branch Offices in China
Branches of Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., are established at Shanghai
(the largest office of Jardine's) Canton, Swatow, Foochow, Chungking,
Tsingtao, Tientsin, and Taipei (Taiwan). The Firm has correspondents in
Kunming, Amoy, Peiping, and in the Yangtze River ports of Chinkiang,
Nanking, Wuhu, Kiukiang, Ichang, Snasi, and Changsha. Of these branches,
Hankow and Tientsin are the greatest. Today, Hankow is mostly a ruin and a
reminder of hideous warfare. Rehabilitation is sure, but it will take
time. Tientsin, through which vast volumes of trade flowed outwards and
inwards in days gone by, survived undamaged and is returning gradually to
the position of the leading port of North China. Tsingtao, one of China's
few good harbours, came through the war with little or no damage, and is
fast resuming its important role in the trade of China.
Jardine Representations Abroad
Matheson & Co., Ltd. are Jardines' correspondents in London. "Mathesons"
was founded in 1848 as a private house of merchant bankers, and in 1906 it
became a limited liability company. It is controlled by Jardine, Matheson
& Co., Ltd., and Keswick family. It is the leading Far Eastern house
in London, enjoying an enviable reputation for enterprise and
long-established reliability.
In the United States of America the correspondents are Balfour, Guthrie
& Co., Ltd., New York. This is a firm of the highest standing, the
centre of a network of world-wide trading and manufacturing interests.
Throughout the world, in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe, there are
correspondents. In Calcutta, the sister firm Jardine, Henderson, Ltd. (which
for many years was styled Jardine, Skinner & Co.), still maintains the
closest links. These links reach back to the early days when Jardine and
Matheson and the other pioneers were trading between Canton, Hongkong, and
India.
Today
The Jardine Matheson Group is still very much active in Hong Kong, being
one of the largest conglomerates in Hong Kong and its largest employer,
second only to the government. Several landmarks in present day Hong Kong
are named after the firm and the founders Jardine and Matheson like
Jardine's Bazaar, Jardine's Crescent, Jardine's Bridge, Jardine's Lookout,
Yee Wo Street, Matheson Street, Jardine House and the Noon Day Gun.
Jardines is primarily active in Asia.
It went through several major internal changes throughout the 19th and
20th century, in 1947 a Trust was formed by members of the family to
permit the management of the company to participate in the financial
growth of the company. Jardine, Matheson and Co. offered its shares to the
public in 1961 under the tenure of taipan Sir Hugh Barton and was
oversubscribed 56 times. The Keswick family, in consortium with several
London-based banks and financial institutions, bought out the controlling
shares of the Buchanan-Jardine family in 1959 but subsequently sold most
of the shares during the 1961 public offering, retaining only about 10% of
the company.
The company redomiciled to Bermuda in 1984 under the tenure of taipan
Simon Keswick so as to maintain its governance under a familiar
British-based legal system. In the late 1980s, the corporate structure of
the Jardine, Matheson Group, including all its allied companies, were
restructured. The firm delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Hang
Seng Index) in 1994 under the tenure of Alasdair Morrison and placed its
primary listing in London. Officials in the People's Republic of China (PRC)
regarded the delisting as a rebuke to the future of Hong Kong and the
government of PRC. This caused trouble when Jardine Matheson attempted to
participate in the Container Terminal 9.
The present Chairman of Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. is Henry Keswick,
the company's tai-pan from 1970 (aged 31) to 1975 and was the 6th Keswick
to be tai-pan of the company. His brother, Simon, was the company's
tai-pan from 1983 to
1988 and is the 7th Keswick to be tai-pan. Both brothers are the 4th
generation of Keswicks in the company. The 5th generation of Keswicks are
also active within the organisation, Ben Keswick, son of Simon, is in
charge of Jardine Pacific and Adam Keswick, son of Chips, is in charge at
Jardine, Cycle & Carriage. The organizational structure of Jardines
has changed almost totally, but the members of the family of Dr. William
Jardine still have significant influence in the firm.
