Gillanders, Ewart and Co , traders in goods from India x Arbuthnot, Ewart and Co , traders in goods from India Ewart, Lyon and Co , traders in goods from India x Ewart, Latham and Co , traders in goods from India Anglo Siam Corporation x Anglo Thai Corporation

Gillanders, Ewart and Co , traders in goods from India x Arbuthnot, Ewart and Co , traders in goods from India Ewart, Lyon and Co , traders in goods from India x Ewart, Latham and Co , traders in goods from India Anglo Siam Corporation x Anglo Thai Corporation

The origins of this firm may be traced to Liverpool and the formation, in 1834, of the partnership Gillanders, Ewart and Company to open a trading house in Bombay concerned with shipping, piece goods and general agency business. In 1836, the Bombay House took the name Ewart, Lyon and Company. The name of the Liverpool firm was changed in 1842 to Arbuthnot, Ewart and Company. By the mid 1850s, business was dominated by the export from India of rice, cotton, sugar and wool and the import of consumer goods. A Karachi partnership, Ewart, Ryrie and Company, was established at this time to deal in wool from north west India. The Bombay firm was redesignated Ewart, Latham and Company in 1883.

The timber trade connections of W. M. Macaulay, a partner in Ewart, Latham and Company from 1883, turned attention to the possibility of obtaining teak from Siam at lower prices than that supplied by the Bombay Burmah Trading Company. Consequently, in 1885, the Siam Forest Company Limited was set up in Bombay to take on the lease of teak forest in the Me Ngow river valley, northern Siam. Its shareholders included partners of the English and Indian firms. Ewart, Latham and Company acted as agents and secretaries of the new company.

In 1897, the Siam Forest Company Limited was reformed in London to acquire the Bombay-registered company and also the saw mill and timber business of Clarke and Company of Bangkok. General trading and agency work was also significant over the next two decades. In view of this, the company was redesignated the Anglo Siam Corporation in 1917. The entire businesses of Arbuthnot, Ewart and Company, Ewart, Latham and Company and Ewart, Ryrie and Company were acquired in 1920. Thereafter, they continued to trade as branches of the corporation. The firm was restyled again in 1939, becoming the Anglo Thai Corporation. After the Second World War, trading interests continued to expand into Malaysia, India, Thailand, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

The corporation was acquired by the Inchcape Group of trading companies in 1975. The firm had offices at 67 Cornhill, 1897-1908; 2 Fenchurch Avenue, 1909-23; 5 and 7 St Helen's Place, 1924-44; 80 Bishopsgate, 1945-55; Gerrard House, 31/45 Gresham Street, 1956-68; Lee House, London Wall, 1969-?82; and 40 St Mary Axe, 1983-8.