Saint Francis of Assisi is the daughter church of Saint Michael and All Angels, Ladbroke Grove; and was founded in 1936 as a Mission Chapel.
The first vicar was the Reverend Arthur Delgano Robinson, a prominent local philanthropic clergyman, who also founded Saint Clement's Church. He established a school for the children of the local potteries workers, who were notoriously poverty-stricken.
Saint Helen's was built in 1881 by H. Currey and dedicated on 15th January 1884. The church was hit by a flying bomb and destroyed during World War II and rebuilt during 1954-6 and rededicated on 6th July 1956. The ancillary buildings: the vicarage, church hall, parish room and stores are clustered round the church. The church has an organ case and stained class by Sir J. Ninian Comper, the architect's father, and pews by Richard Norman Shaw which were orginally from Holy Trinity, Latimer Road, Hammersmith. The parish was united with Holy Trinity in 1951. The church has developed a strong tradition for children's and youth work.
In April 2000 the parish boundary was extended to include the Delgano estate with Saint Francis Mission Chapel and Saint Francis House.
Saint Martin's Mission was originally known as Rackham Hall as it was situated on Rackham Street. It was built by Mr. Allen, a local builder. It was the Mission Church of Saint Michael and All Angels, Ladbroke Grove (P84/MAA). Since 1916 it has become a parish stretching from Ladbroke Grove to St Quintin's Park.
Saint Charles' Hospital was built as Saint Marylebone Infirmary situated in the Ladbroke Grove area of North Kensington. The hospital was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1881. Its name was changed to Saint Charles' Hospital when it was transferred from Saint Marylebone Board of Guardians to the London County Council in 1930. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service and came under the control of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and the Paddington Group Hospital Management Committee. It now forms part of the Paddington and North Kensington District Health Authority.
Saint Stephen's Church was built within a year in 1866-1867 and consecrated on 10th January 1867. It was designed by Joseph Peacock. A temporary church on the east side of Gloucester Road had opened in early 1866. The church became 'higher' after the 1870's and by 1900 was firmly Anglo-Catholic in character and was remodelled in the early 1900's to reflect this. Poet TS Eliot served as churchwarden at Saint Stephen's for twenty-five years. The church has a memorial plaque to him.
The original church of Saint Thomas was built in 1889 to the designs of Demaine and Brierley of York. The site was purchased by trustees of the Bishop of London's Church Building Fund for £800 and a large of part of the building's expenses was paid for from funds which had accrued from the amalgamation in 1886 of the benefice of Saint Thomas in the Liberty of the Rolls and that of Saint Dunstan's in the West.
During World War Two the church was severely damaged by enemy action. In 1951 the benefice was united with that of Saint Andrew and Saint Philip Goldborne Road and in 1967 Saint Thomas's was completely rebuilt to the designs of Romilly B. Craze.
Originally built in 1820 as a Congregationalist chapel called Holland Chapel, the building which was to become Christ Church, North Brixton was taken over as a proprietary chapel by the Reverend F. Crossman. It became a Chapel of Ease to Saint Mark's Church, Kennington and when in 1855 Canon McConnell Hussey became its minister, he converted the leasehold land to freehold. He also arranged to have the district formed into a separate parish and to have the church consecrated, reseated and enlarged by the addition of an apse at his own expense. The church was consecrated on 9 October 1855. In 1891 the Reverend W. R. Mowll was appointed. He was responsible for the building of a parish hall and the rebuilding of the old church which, delapidated beyond repair, was closed in 1899 and demolished. The new church was consecrated by the Bishop of Rochester on 5 December 1902.
The parish of Emmanuel, West Dulwich was formed from part of the parish of Saint Luke's West Norwood and from part of the parish of Saint Stephen's, College Road, in the late nineteenth century. A temporary iron church was opened in September 1872 under licence from the Bishop of Winchester. A permanent church was consecrated in 1877 under the Bishop of Rochester. From around 1923/4 it was in the diocese of Southwark. In 1966 Emmanuel was joined with All Saints, West Dulwich becoming a Conventional District of that parish. A new church was built in 1967 after the demolition of the older one.
The church of Saint John the Evangelist on Waterloo Road was constructed using funds allocated by the Commissioners for Building New Churches in 1822. These Commissioners had been established by an Act of Parliament in 1818 for the building of new churches in populous areas, particularly around London which was expanding rapidly. The site for the church was purchased from the Archbishop of Canterbury on marshy ground; the advice of John Rennie was sought regarding the foundations. On his recommendation piling was used under all the walls, which still remain strong. An imposing classical design by architect Francis Bedford was chosen. The church was consecrated in November 1824. Renovations and repairs were carried out in 1885 and again in 1924.
A parish school was constructed in Exton Street as soon as the church was finished. In 1844 a new church, All Saints, was constructed to provide more church accommodation in the area, and the parish was taken out of that of Saint John. However, it was demolished to make way for Waterloo Station, and the parishes were merged again. The churchyard was made into a public garden in 1878, although some monuments still survive to the front of the church.
Information from 'Church of St John the Evangelist, Waterloo Road', Survey of London: volume 23: Lambeth: South Bank and Vauxhall (1951), pp. 32-36.
Royal South London Dispensary: The dispensary was founded in 1821 for the benefit of the poor people of Lambeth, Southwark and Newington. Its premises were situated at Saint George's Cross, Southwark opposite Bethlem Hospital. The dispensary closed in June 1917 owing to lack of the necessary financial support. The minute book was handed over to the Revd. E. G. Gordon, Vicar of Saint John, Waterloo Road, for safe keeping. Other records were to be sold or otherwise disposed of.
The site of Saint James the Apostle was donated by James Lewis Minet, who also paid for the construction. Work began in June 1869 and the consecration took place in June 1870. A consolidated chapelry was formed in 1874. The architect was George Low who designed the church in a Decorated Gothic style, using Kentish ragstone and Bath stone.
The Church was closed in 1979 and the benefice has been united with that of Saint John the Divine, Vassall Road, Kennington.
Some information from: 'Myatt's Fields, Denmark Hill and Herne Hill: Introduction and Myatt's Fields area', Survey of London: volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area (1956), pp. 141-145.
The church of Saint Luke, West Norwood, was built by the Lambeth Church Building Committee working under the Church Building Commissioners, who had been established by an Act of 1818 to provide more churches, particularly in the expanding metropolis. The church was constructed between 1822 and 1825 to designs by Francis Bedford; although major alterations to the interior were carried out in 1870.
Information from: 'Norwood: Churches', Survey of London: volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area (1956), pp. 173-180.
In 1839 the site of Saint Michael's was donated to the Church Building Commissioners, who had been established by an Act of 1818 to provide more churches, particularly in the expanding metropolis. A design for the church by William Rogers was approved in 1840 and construction was complete by 1841. The church was consecrated in November of that year. A district was assigned to the church in 1845. The church was severely damaged during the Second World War and was re-dedicated in 1952 after its restoration by Thomas F. Ford.
From: 'Stockwell: Stockwell Park Crescent and Stockwell Green areas', Survey of London: volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area (1956), pp. 88-95.
The parish of Saint Matthew was established in 1824, taken from part of the ancient parish of Saint Mary. The church was constructed in 1820 in a classical, Doric style.
From: 'Lambeth: The parish', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 50-64.
Coconut Products Limited was registered in 1926 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Harrisons Ramsay Proprietary (CLC/B/112-081) was involved in the formation of the company, and held half the shares. One of the directors was Robert Ramsay, director of Harrisons Ramsay Proprietary. Coconut Products Limited went into voluntary liquidation in 1956.
I.T.M. Syndicate Limited was registered in 1922. The company was involved in improvements in tea manufacture in Ceylon [Sri Lanka] and Southern India. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) acted as secretaries for the company. In 1929 I.T.M. Syndicate went into voluntary liquidation.
In 1926 Harrisons, Davis & Company was registered in Kobe to act as a silk buying agency for Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) and also as an exporter of silk worldwide. In 1930 it was taken over by W.W. Jarmain and re-styled Jarmain, Davis and Company. In 1972 Harrisons and Crosfield acquired a 50% interest in the company and it was restyled Jarmain, Harrisons and Crosfield Limited. The partnership was dissolved in 1986, and the name was changed back to Jarmain, Davis and Company.
Kellas Limited was registered in 1906 to acquire the Kellas estates in Perak, Malaya. In 1910 two subsidiary companies were formed: Kinta Kellas Rubber Estates Limited (CLC/B/112-096) and Klian Kellas Tin and Rubber Company Limited, which took over the the estates. In 1913 the company was acquired by Mount Yagahong Exploration and Finance Company Limited.
Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) did not act as secretaries / agents of this company, but it held 400,000 shares in Kinta Kellas Rubber Estates Limited and 200,000 shares in Klian Kellas Tin and Rubber Company Limited.
Killinghall (Rubber) Development Syndicate Limited was registered in 1909 to manage the Killinghall estate near Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) replaced Bright and Galbraith as secretaries and agents of the company in 1952. Harrisons and Crosfield (Malaya) Limited (CLC/B/112-071) acted as local agents from 1953.
Killinghall (Rubber) Development Syndicate held mining leases sub-let to Killinghall Tin Limited until 1979. In 1982 it became a PLC (public limited company). It went into voluntary liquidation in 1985.
Arthur Lampard opened an office in Calcutta for Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) in 1900, under the style Lampard, Clark and Company. The office mainly dealt in tea. From 1908 it was managed as a branch office of Harrisons and Crosfield (see CLC/B/112/MS37208-50). Some records of Lampard, Clark and Company date to 1909 or 1911, and therefore relate to the branch office of Harrisons and Crosfield Limited.
This company was registered in 1907 to take over the business of Asiatic Rubber and Produce Company Limited (registered in Ceylon in 1905, with estates in Malacca, Selangor and Perak). The London Asiatic Rubber and Produce Company acquired the Diamond Jubilee and Ayer Molek estates in Selangor and Perak. It took over Tamok Rubber Estate Limited (1920), Elphil Rubber Company Limited (1921), Batang Benar Rubber Company Limited (1922), Tangkah Rubber Estates Limited (1923), Sepang Selangor Rubber Estates Limited (1931), Oriental Rubber Company Limited (1960) and Lanadron Rubber Estates Limited (1960). It consolidated Harrisons and Crosfield Limited's (CLC/B/112) secretarial interests in Malaya.
In 1977 the company was purchased by Harrisons Malaysian Estates Limited (CLC/B/112-079). In December of that year it became resident in Malaysia, and in June 1982 it became a private company.
London Asiatic Trustee Company Limited was registered in 1929 to administer provident and other funds for the benefit of London Asiatic Rubber and Produce Company.
Cluny Rubber Estates Limited was registered in 1910 to acquire estates in Perak, Malaya, and to take over the firm of the same name registered in Singapore. In 1947 Cluny Rubber Estates Limited was acquired by Lanadron Rubber Estates Limited (CLC/B/112-105), which in turn was acquired by London Asiatic Rubber and Produce Company (CLC/B/112-103) in 1960.
Tangkah Rubber Estates Limited: This company was registered in 1909 to acquire estates in Johore, Malaya. In 1923 it was acquired by London Asiatic Rubber and Produce Company (CLC/B/112-103).
New Crescent (Holdings) Limited was registered in 1957 as an investment company holding investments mainly in plantations companies operating in West Malaysia. In 1972 Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) took over from Taylor, Noble and Company as secretaries of New Crescent (Holdings) Limited. The company was wholly owned by Sungei Bahru Rubber Estates Limited (CLC/B/112-147). See also CLC/B/112/MS37838 for circulars and other papers relating to the company.
Ratanui Rubber Limited was registered in 1934 to reconstitute Ratanui Rubber Estates Limited (registered in 1909) and to manage estates in Telok Anson, Perak, Malaya. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) replaced Bright and Galbraith as secretaries and agents of the company in 1952. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited sold its stock in the company in 1958 and ceased to act as secretaries and agents.
Robur Tea Company was registered in 1928 to take over the tea businesses of R J Alcock, James Service and Company and Robur Tea Company Limited (of which James Service and Company were proprietors). It had a head office in Melbourne, Australia, and a branch in Sydney. The company had a holding in Oriental Tea Company Limited (CLC/B/112-122).
For historical notes on the company see CLC/B/112/MS37392. See also the records of Harrisons Ramsay Proprietary (CLC/B/112/MS37842-92) which held a large interest in Robur Tea Company.
Rubber Securities Limited was registered in 1909 as a rubber plantation investment company. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) replaced Bright and Galbraith as secretaries and agents of Rubber Securities Limited in 1952. In 1953 Rubber Securities Limited was acquired by G.T.S. Syndicate Limited (CLC/B/112-052) and in 1981 it became a private company.
Sumatra Tea Estates Limited was registered in 1925 to acquire estates in the Simeloengoen district of East Sumatra. From 1937 it was wholly owned by Rubber Plantations Investment Trust. In 1953 it went into voluntary liquidation.
Sungei Bahru Rubber Estates Limited was registered in 1932 to re-constitute a firm of the same name (registered in 1909) and to acquire estates in Negri Sembilan and Malacca. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) took over from Taylor, Noble and Company as secretaries of Sungei Bahru Rubber Estates Limited in 1972. It had a wholly owned subsidiary: New Crescent (Holdings) Limited (CLC/B/112-120). In 1982 it became a PLC and in 1984 it was acquired by Harrisons Malaysian Plantations Berhad (CLC/B/112-080).
T.R.S. Company Limited was registered in 1923 as an investment company holding shares in rubber and other plantations companies. Rubber Plantations Investment Trust had an investment in the company 1924-1928. In 1946/7 it went into voluntary liquidation.
This company was registered in September 1916 as Twining, Harrisons and Crosfield Company Limited; the name was changed in December of that year to Twining, Crosfield and Company Limited. The company took on the packed tea and tea wholesaleing business of Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112-001-016) under Hugh Theodore Crosfield at 9 Mincing Lane, London and Ceylon Wharf, Southwark. It had links with Irwin Harrisons and Whitney.
Harrisons and Crosfield Limited held preference shares in the company and appointed directors until 1952, but it did not act as agents or secretaries for the company. In 1952 Twining, Crosfield and Company became a public company. In 1961 it acquired Barber's Teas Limited and its subsidiary Samuel Harvey and Company Limited.
For historical notes concerning Harrisons and Crosfield Limited's shareholdings in the company see CLC/B/112/MS37392.
United Cocoa Development Company Limited was registered in 1955 to acquire and develop land in Malaya as a cocoa estate for commercial growing. Harrisons and Crosfield (Malaya) Limited (CLC/B/112-071) acted as managing agents for the company in Malaysia. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112-001-016) acted as a London secretary. In 1975 United Cocoa Development Company Limited went into voluntary liquidation.
This company was registered in 1930 as a private limited company and wholly owned subsidiary of Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112/001-016). It took over an agreement between Wilkinson Process Rubber Company (CLC/B/112-165) and Harrisons and Crosfield Limited, where Harrisons and Crosfield Limited acted as sole concessionaires in Europe of Wilkinson Process Rubber Company's products. The company had a small factory at Camberley, Surrey.
Wilkinson Rubber Linatex Limited bought Midland Aggregates Limited (CLC/B/112-117), which owned sand and gravel deposits, in 1961. In 1968 it acquired half the equity of Crawford, Hansford and Kimber Limited, which made electronic equipment and which had a factory at Aldershot. In 1970 it purchased 20,000 shares in Lymington Machine Works Limited (of Lymington, Hampshire), which made injection moulding machines; it sold the company in 1975. From around 1989 Wilkinson Rubber Linatex Limited was known as Linatex Limited.
For historical notes see CLC/B/112/MS37392.
This firm of merchants had premises successively at 15 and 18 Lawrence Pountney Lane.
Charles W. Marten and Edward Heseltine began trading together as stock and share brokers under the name Marten and Heseltine in 1848 at 9 Finch Lane, Cornhill.
In 1852 Thomas W Powell joined the business and its name was listed in the London Directories from that year as Marten and Powell (1852 only) and Heseltine, Powell (1852-1866). In 1867 its style changed to Heseltine, Powell and Company and remained as such for the next 110 years.
In 1977 the name of the business changed to Heseltine, Moss and Company and in 1987 they became members of Brown Shipley Stockbroking Limited.
Edward Heseltine and Thomas Powell were particularly interested in the shares and bonds of the developing American railroads and, in letters to the Stock Exchange in 1908, the company claimed that it was their encouragement of investors which had stimulated interest in the American market and helped to create the arbitrage business.
The firm remained at Finch Lane until 1856, but thereafter made several moves, to Spread Eagle Court, 3 Threadneedle Street (1856-60)); 2 Royal Exchange Buildings (1861-6); 6A Austin Friars (1867-78); 1 Drapers Gardens, Throgmorton Street (1879-1962); 3/4Trump Street (1963-86); and 10 Foster Lane (1987- ).
The Hide Shippers and Agents Association was formed in 1925 to represent importers of hides, and their agents in the United Kingdom, who were dissatisfied with existing methods of arbitration employed by the trade. They based the form of their association upon the associations formed by the oil, tallow and grain trades, and, in addition to appointing a panel of arbitrators to hear disputes, introduced uniform printed contracts and promoted the general interests of their trade. Originally based at 84 Leadenhall Street, the association subsequently moved to 5/7 Houndsditch (1959) and Baltic Exchange Chambers, 24 St. Mary Axe (1968).
The date of the origin of the firm is uncertain, but the firm can be traced back to Edward Thomas Jones (1767-1833), author of English System of Book-Keeping (1796). Edward Thomas began his career in accountancy in Bristol, but moved to London in 1821, living first in Poultry and later in Coleman Street. His business was continued by his nephew, Theodore Brooke Jones, in 1846, and Arthur James Hill in 1867.
Soon afterwards Theodore Brooke Jones moved to Harrogate and opened offices in Leeds and Manchester. In 1878 the business was divided into three distinct firms: the Manchester firm became known as Jones Crewdson & Company, the Leeds firm was called Theodore B Jones and Company, and the London firm became Theodore Jones, Hill and Company. In the same year, William Edward Vellacott, who had been articled to the London firm in 1869, was admitted to the partnership. The name of the London firm was changed to Theodore Jones, Hill, Vellacott and Company in 1884, and in 1888, when Jones withdrew from the practice, to Arthur J Hill, Vellacott and Company.
The location of the firm's office in London changed frequently; the longest period of time was spent at Finsbury Circus House (1871-1914). In 1941 the firm's offices were damaged by floods following bomb damage and many of the company's early records were destroyed. Offices were also opened in Belfast, Cambridge, Northampton, Croydon and Leicester.
From 1927 the firm was known as Hill, Vellacott & Company (Hill, Vellacott from 1967, and Hill Vellacott from 1975). The company underwent various mergers from 1923, including one in 1984 with Chantry Wood King, and the company's name was changed to Chantrey Vellacott in 1988.
The business of the Jones family and of Arthur Hill was involved in the co-operative and building society movements, and their clients included the Longton and Fenton Permanent Benefit Building Society.
Sir Richard Holford of Lincoln's Inn and Weston Birt, Gloucestershire (d 1718), to whom the majority of these papers relate, was called to the bench in 1689, made a master in Chancery 1694, and knighted in 1695.
Of the other members of the Holford family mentioned, Robert Holford senior (1686-1753), son of Sir Richard, was called to the bench in 1715, having already become a master in Chancery in 1712, and his two sons, Peter (b 1719), and Robert junior, followed the family tradition, the former becoming a master in Chancery in 1750 and the latter being admitted to Grays Inn in 1742.
Assam and African Investments Limited was part of the Inchcape Group. It operated in Assam (India) and Kenya and Tanzania (East Africa).
Assam Estates Limited was a tea company operating in Assam, 1910 to 1977. It was part of the Inchcape Group.
Encouraged by the prospect of economic expansion in Sarawak, Borneo, Robert MacEwan and Robert Henderson, Glasgow merchants with well-established interests in the South China seas, and John Charles Templer, a lifelong friend of Rajah Brooke of Sarawak, combined to launch the Borneo Company in 1856. The firm's foreign headquarters were in Singapore, and, in addition to Sarawak, it soon traded in general commodities all over the Far East: in Calcutta, the Dutch East Indies (Java and Sumatra), Hong Kong, Malaya [Malaysia] and Siam [Thailand]. Of these, the operations in Sarawak and Siam were probably the most significant.
SARAWAK: Under a royalty agreement concluded with the Sarawak treasury in the mid 1850s, the company was authorised to exploit all the country's mineral deposits. Initially, operations concentrated on the extraction of antimony ore, but, from the 1870s, company prospectors added cinnabar, coal and, most lucratively, gold to the range of minerals mined. In addition, the company developed a banking and agency business, ran a mint for the Rajah, and experimented with miscellaneous crops such as sago, indigo, tobacco, pepper and rubber. Close contact with the first and successive rajahs allowed for great diversification of interests and the operation of a commercial monopoly in the company's favour until the Second World War.
SIAM [Thailand]: A branch opened in Bangkok in 1856 following introductions made to King Mongkuk by the Danish explorer Ludwig Verner Helms. Activity included rice milling and trading; the export of sugar, salt and tin and import of calico, metals, marine stores and opium; wharfage work; and agency business. The value of these miscellaneous trades was however small in comparison with the profit derived from the extraction of teak in the northern districts. Upcountry branches at Chiengmai and Raheng directed forest operations from the 1880s onwards under the terms of successive teak leases. By 1914, the company had its own sawmill in Bangkok, and was exporting steadily to Europe, India and the Far East. Trade in teak continued relatively undisturbed until the Second World War.
The firm became a limited company in 1890. From 1922, the company was quoted on the London Stock Exchange. Increasing emphasis on the distribution of motor vehicles led in 1925 to the formation in Singapore of the subsidiary Borneo Motors Limited. The firm took over motor distribution in Singapore, Malaya, Sarawak and Brunei.
After the Second World War, during which many Far Eastern staff were incarcerated by the Japanese, the company continued to expand into Brunei, North Borneo and Canada.
In 1966, the firm became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Inchcape Group of trading companies.
The Borneo Company had offices at 25 Mincing Lane, 1856-9; 7 Mincing Lane, 1859-74; 28 Fenchurch Street, 1874-[1932]; 143-149 Fenchurch Street, [1932]-1955; 62-63 Mark Lane, 1956-1967; 40 St Mary Axe, 1967-1988.
This item was found among the archives of Duncan Macneill and Company (CLC/B/123-23). The Dalhousie Jute Company, of Calcutta, India, and Duncan Macneill and Company were both part of the Inchcape Group of companies.
This company, shipping agents of 101 Leadenhall Street, was established in 1919 as Delmege and Company to act for Delmege, Forsyth and Company (CLC/B/123-20) in the UK. It became Delmege, Allen and Company in 1920. Delmege, Allen and Company and Delmege, Forsyth and Company were both part of the Inchcape Group of companies.
The firm was established in 1858 when W R Adamson and Company (silk dealers) set up in London, with its head office in Shanghai and branches in Hong Kong, Foochow and Hankow. It began to build up an export business in tea and silk, and also a general import business, and began to acquire shipping agencies. The name changed in 1867 to Adamson, Bell and Company.
In 1872 George Benjamin Dodwell joined the company in Shanghai, and in 1891, by which time both Adamson and Bell had retired, he formed Dodwell, Carlill and Company to take over Adamson Bell's agencies. Also in 1891 the head office moved to London. By this stage the firm was exporting tea, porcelain, silk and other Chinese produce from Hong Kong, Shanghai, Yokohama and Kobe, and importing flour and lumber from Tacoma on the Pacific coast.
In 1897 a branch was opened in Colombo, chiefly exporting tea to Russia. In 1899 Dodwell and Company Limited was registered as a private limited company. G. B. Dodwell was its first chairman. From 1899 to the First World War, tea sales declined and general merchandising and the shipping agencies became more important. Japan also became more important to the company, chiefly through the export of coal to Singapore and Shanghai.
From the 1920s onwards, Dodwell's trade in the Far East generally fluctuated for various reasons, including the Second World War and the Chinese revolution. However, post-war recovery in Japan was rapid, and the company had begun meanwhile to expand in other directions, including rubber and textiles, and also motor vehicles. Dodwell Motors, a subsidiary, was formed in Hong Kong after the war. It amalgamated in 1969 with Inchcape's Metro cars to form Metro-Dodwell Motors Limited, which took over all British Leyland franchises in Hong Kong.
From the mid 1950s, Dodwell specialised as buying agents for department and chain stores throughout the world, opening their own retail stores in some places, including Kenya and Hong Kong.
In 1972 the whole share capital of Dodwell and Company Limited was acquired by Inchcape and Company Limited. Dodwell had offices successively in Billiter Street and St Mary Axe.
The company traded in West Bengal, India, as general merchants and agents, and was part of the Inchcape Group of companies.
This company carried on business as merchant traders and agents in Canton, China, and was part of the Inchcape Group of companies.
India General Steam Navigation Company was established in India in 1844 to compete with the steamers of the Indian government on the Ganges, later turning its attention to Assam, where the tea industry was developing and in need of improved communications.
From the 1870s onwards, the company faced much competition from Rivers Steam Navigation Company Limited (CLC/B/123-47), as a result of which various working agreements between the two companies were reached in the 1880s. As a result of one such agreement, made in 1889, the two companies came generally to be known as the Joint steamer companies, operating many joint services but maintaining separate management.
In 1899, India General went into liquidation, partly in order to raise more capital, and partly in order to register in London. The new company was named India General Navigation and Railway Company Limited (so called because a few years earlier India General had undertaken the construction of an extension of a railway to the banks of the Brahmaputra at Jaganathganj).
During both world wars, vessels of the Joint steamer companies were impresssed for military use in India, and also in Iraq during the First World War. After the Second World War the partition of India caused difficulties in the transport of commodities from Assam to Calcutta for export, as they had to pass through Pakistan as well as India. As a result, the fleets of the Joint companies were divided and separate repair workshops set up to service the Pakistani fleet (in addition to those set up by India General in the 1880s at Raja Bagan).
In 1959, Pakistan River Steamers Limited was formed to manage the Pakistani fleets of the Joint companies, as the government of Pakistan would not Company-operate except with a company incorporated in Pakistan (for further details of PRS Limited see the introductory note to Rivers Steam Navigation Company Limited.)
In 1962 a strike by crews in Pakistan nearly brought about the collapse of India General, but Rivers Steam Navigation Company Limited bought out its Indian assets and liabilities, India General retaining its Pakistani interests. India General was managed in India by Kilburn and Company and in London by Kilburn, Brown and Company. (The Inchcape group archives include some records of Kilburn, Brown and Company, CLC/B/123-37).
India General had London offices successively in St. Helen's Place, New Broad Street and Mincing Lane.
This company traded as general merchants and shipping agents and was London agent for India General Navigation and Railway Company (CLC/B/123-33). It was part of the Inchcape Group.
This company was part of the Inchcape Group of companies.
This company of ship brokers and agents was part of the Inchcape Group of companies.
This company, growers and manufacturers of tea in Assam, India, was part of the Inchcape Group of companies.