Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1866-1973 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
157 production units.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The firm was established in 1865 by Sir William MacKinnon (founder of British India Steam Navigation Company, W. MacKinnon and Company, and MacKinnon, MacKenzie and Company) as a merchant partnership for Archibald Gray, his nephew and Edwin Sandys Dawes. Its shipping agency, charter and insurance work included handling the regular passenger and cargo traffic of British India Steam Navigation Company in London, though before the First World War its activities on behalf of the Company were rather overshadowed by the Glasgow firm W. MacKinnon and Company.
Among secretarial and management activity, it represented, from 1873, the British India Underwriters' Association, formed to insure British India Steam Navigation Company vessels and those of the associated Netherlands Steam Navigation Company. It acted as a confirming house for Smith, MacKenzie and Company and Binny and Company inter alia, and purchased stores for them. During the 1920s, it also acted as buying and selling agent for the Mesopotamia Persia Corporation Limited.
The partnership invested in several firms subsequently associated with the Inchcape group (see introductory note to the Inchcape Group for details of formation of the group, CLC/B/123), among them the Australasian United Steam Navigation Company, Gray, Paul and Company, Gray, MacKenzie and Company, Smith, MacKenzie and Company, and Gibb, Livingston and Company. In c 1900 James Lyle MacKay, the future first Earl of Inchcape, became a partner, and by 1922 Lord Inchcape, together with his sons and sons-in-law, held approximately 75% of its shares.
By the time the partnership was converted into a private limited company in 1952, the third earl, his brothers Alan and Simon and Lord Craigmyle (son-in-law of the first Earl), known collectively as the Seniors, were sole shareholders. In the preparations for the launch of the Inchcape Group in 1958, it was via Gray, Dawes and Company that Inchcape family shareholdings in certain other firms, Binny and Co (London) Limited, Binny and Company (Madras) Limited, Smith, MacKenzie and Company and Gray MacKenzie and Company, for example, were increased.
During the 1960s, the firm lost its shipping agencies and in 1967 its mercantile department was transferred to Inchcape Export Limited. In their place, banking activity was developed. By 1973 the Company was fully fledged as Gray Dawes Bank. It was sold in 1983. The firm had offices at 13 Austin Friars, 1865-1893; 23 Great Winchester Street, 1894-1917; 122 Leadenhall Street, 1918-61; and 40 St. Mary Axe, 1961-83.
Repository
Archival history
GB 0074 CLC/B/123-30 1866-1973 Collection 157 production units. Gray, Dawes and Co , general merchants and agents
The firm was established in 1865 by Sir William MacKinnon (founder of British India Steam Navigation Company, W. MacKinnon and Company, and MacKinnon, MacKenzie and Company) as a merchant partnership for Archibald Gray, his nephew and Edwin Sandys Dawes. Its shipping agency, charter and insurance work included handling the regular passenger and cargo traffic of British India Steam Navigation Company in London, though before the First World War its activities on behalf of the Company were rather overshadowed by the Glasgow firm W. MacKinnon and Company.
Among secretarial and management activity, it represented, from 1873, the British India Underwriters' Association, formed to insure British India Steam Navigation Company vessels and those of the associated Netherlands Steam Navigation Company. It acted as a confirming house for Smith, MacKenzie and Company and Binny and Company inter alia, and purchased stores for them. During the 1920s, it also acted as buying and selling agent for the Mesopotamia Persia Corporation Limited.
The partnership invested in several firms subsequently associated with the Inchcape group (see introductory note to the Inchcape Group for details of formation of the group, CLC/B/123), among them the Australasian United Steam Navigation Company, Gray, Paul and Company, Gray, MacKenzie and Company, Smith, MacKenzie and Company, and Gibb, Livingston and Company. In c 1900 James Lyle MacKay, the future first Earl of Inchcape, became a partner, and by 1922 Lord Inchcape, together with his sons and sons-in-law, held approximately 75% of its shares.
By the time the partnership was converted into a private limited company in 1952, the third earl, his brothers Alan and Simon and Lord Craigmyle (son-in-law of the first Earl), known collectively as the Seniors, were sole shareholders. In the preparations for the launch of the Inchcape Group in 1958, it was via Gray, Dawes and Company that Inchcape family shareholdings in certain other firms, Binny and Co (London) Limited, Binny and Company (Madras) Limited, Smith, MacKenzie and Company and Gray MacKenzie and Company, for example, were increased.
During the 1960s, the firm lost its shipping agencies and in 1967 its mercantile department was transferred to Inchcape Export Limited. In their place, banking activity was developed. By 1973 the Company was fully fledged as Gray Dawes Bank. It was sold in 1983. The firm had offices at 13 Austin Friars, 1865-1893; 23 Great Winchester Street, 1894-1917; 122 Leadenhall Street, 1918-61; and 40 St. Mary Axe, 1961-83.
Deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library in 1987 by Inchcape Plc, together with archives of other companies in the Group. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
Records of Gray, Dawes and Company, general merchants and agents, including partnership deeds; articles of association; correspondence; memoranda; financial accounts; papers relating to investments; papers of the insurance department; papers of the inward freight department; papers regarding the British India Steam Navigation Company Limited; and secretarial papers.
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Access by appointment only. Please contact staff.
Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.
French, English, German, Italian and Spanish.
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
This collection is a sub-fond within the Inchcape Group fonds. See CLC/B/123 for a list of all the companies represented in this collection and a history of the Inchcape Group.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
January to May 2011. Finance Insurance People People by occupation Business people Commercial agents Shipping agents Service industries Financial service industries Insurance services Transport Maritime transport Shipping Information sources Documents Business records Water transport Freight services Distribution services Gray , Dawes and Co , general merchants and agents British India Steam Navigation Company x Calcutta Burmah Steamship Navigation Company India South Asia Iran, Islamic Republic Middle East
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library in 1987 by Inchcape Plc, together with archives of other companies in the Group. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Records of Gray, Dawes and Company, general merchants and agents, including partnership deeds; articles of association; correspondence; memoranda; financial accounts; papers relating to investments; papers of the insurance department; papers of the inward freight department; papers regarding the British India Steam Navigation Company Limited; and secretarial papers.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access by appointment only. Please contact staff.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
French, English, German, Italian and Spanish.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
This collection is a sub-fond within the Inchcape Group fonds. See CLC/B/123 for a list of all the companies represented in this collection and a history of the Inchcape Group.
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English