Forbes family business records, 1753-1968 (inclusive).

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Forbes family business records, 1753-1968 (inclusive).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/269592453

The Forbes family business records contain an enormous amount of material pertaining to the one of the most important families of Boston merchants engaged in the China trade during the nineteenth century. The collection consists mainly of account books, letter books, and loose correspondence relating to the China trade beginning with brothers Thomas Tunno, Robert Bennet, and John Murray Forbes and later with Paul Siemen Forbes and Francis Blackwell Forbes. The correspondence and account books document commercial trade activities of Forbes family members as partners in the firm Russell & Co. Business partners and correspondents include Augustine Heard, Houqua, John Perkins Cushing, Thomas Handasyd Perkins, Abraham Ellerman, Augustine Heard, Perkins and Company, Baring Brothers & Co., J. & T.H. Perkins & Sons, Bryant & Sturgis, Purdon and Wiggin, and Walker and Wren . Also included is correspondence of John M. Forbes while serving as United States consul at Hamburg and Copenhagen, and United States agent at Buenos Aires. Forbes family members were closely connected to Shewan-Tomes Company, Perkins Company, and the Shanghai Navigation Company. Later materials relate to the private banking investment firm J.M. Forbes & Co. consisting of financial records, estate and trust accounts, and the records of companies that J.M. Forbes & Co. held significant shares of. The material related to J.M. Forbes & Co. documents the extensive administration and redistribution of wealth made by Forbes family members during the China trade and the establishment of trusts in order to ensure continued prosperity. Also included is material relating to W. Cameron Forbes consisting of correspondence, financial and legal papers, and material relating to his appointment as governor-general of the Philippines, interests in Forbes-Perkins Company, and commissioner of the Massachusetts Street Railway Commission. The collection includes original and copied documents and claims of the ship Macedonian pertaining to two separate seizures in 1819 and 1820 by the Chilean Navy. Correspondence and other documents relate to efforts for recompense of stolen monies and goods.

56.5 linear ft. (107 v., 44 boxes)

Harvard Business School, Knowledge and Library Services/Baker Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7174772

Harvard Business School, Knowledge and Library Services/Baker Library

Related Entities

There are 31 Entities related to this resource.

Baring Brothers & Co. (London, England)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x45nxf (corporateBody)

Barings Bank was founded in 1762 as the John and Francis Baring Company by Francis Baring, with his older brother John Baring as a mostly silent partner. They were sons of John (né Johann) Baring, wool trader of Exeter, born in Bremen, Germany. The company began in offices off Cheapside in London, and within a few years moved to larger quarters in Mincing Lane. Barings gradually diversified from wool into many other commodities, providing financial services for the rapid growth of international ...

Russell & Co. (1818-1877)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tj9c33 (corporateBody)

Russell & Company (Chinese: 旗昌洋行; pinyin: Qíchāng Yángháng) was the largest American trading house of the mid-19th century in China. The firm specialised in trading tea, silk and opium and was eventually involved in the shipping trade. In 1818, Samuel Russell was approached by Providence merchants Edward C. Carrington, Cyrus Butler and Benjamin and Thomas Hoppin to be an employee of their new resident commission firm in Canton (now referred to as Guangzhou) under the name of Samuel Russell & ...

Heard, Augustine, 1785-1868

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ch0fjz (person)

Augustine Heard (March 30, 1785 – September 14, 1868) was an American entrepreneur, businessman and trader, and founder of the Augustine Heard & Co. firm in China. Augustine Heard was born into a wealthy merchant family of Ipswich, Massachusetts. His father, John Heard (1744-1834), had made his fortune by trading with the West Indies, and his half-brother Daniel (1778-1801) also worked in foreign trade with the West Indies and China. Educated at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, Augus...

Ellerman, Abraham.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6np51m0 (person)

Macedonian (Ship)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pc92wq (corporateBody)

Forbes, John Malcolm, 1847-1904

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64j31c2 (person)

Forbes, Ralph Bennett, 1773-1824.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64f4n72 (person)

Forbes family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fc471h (family)

The Forbes family of Boston and Milton, Mass. was one of the most important families of Boston merchants engaged in the China trade. John Murray Forbes (1771-1831) was United States consul at Hamburg and Copenhagen (1801-1819) and United States agent at Buenos Aires (1819-1831). His nephews Thomas, Robert Bennet, and John Murray Forbes were connected with Perkins and Copmany and later Russell and Company in the China trade. John Murray Forbes (1813-1898) was later involved in railroad developmen...

Shewan-Tomes Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zd439f (corporateBody)

Perkins, Thomas Handasyd, 1764-1854

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nk3p8k (person)

Massachusetts. Street railway investigation commission.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z66p6t (corporateBody)

Forbes, John Murray, 1771-1831

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pc3719 (person)

Lawyer and diplomat. From the description of John Murray Forbes papers, 1817-1830. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79450685 ...

Walker and Wren.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j163fg (corporateBody)

Shanghai Navigation Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6131t65 (corporateBody)

Forbes and Ellerman.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z37zzb (corporateBody)

Perkins and Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zs8x13 (corporateBody)

Bryant & Sturgis.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63g0q7d (corporateBody)

Forbes, James Grant, 1769-1825.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ms6pv3 (person)

Augustine Heard & Company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dc2z0p (corporateBody)

Forbes-Perkins Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63r6t9k (corporateBody)

Brazil Land, Cattle, and Packing Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68d5wht (corporateBody)

Forbes, Paul Siemen, 1808-1886.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6k65pdq (person)

Forbes, Francis Blackwell, 1839-1908

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6q53pn0 (person)

Houqua, 1769-1843.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61v7dzx (person)

Forbes, Thomas Tunno, 1802-1829.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h13f5k (person)

Cushing, John Perkins, 1787-1862

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cn7cbg (person)

Merchant of Boston, Mass., principally engaged in the China trade. From the description of Business records, 1832-1882 (inclusive). (Harvard Business School). WorldCat record id: 269595609 ...

Purdon and Wiggin.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b62k0s (corporateBody)

Forbes, W. Cameron (William Cameron), 1870-1959

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w38g2n (person)

Forbes was an American business and government executive. He served as governor-general of the Philippines, 1909-1913, and ambasador to Japan, 1930-1932. From the description of W. Cameron (William Cameron) Forbes images of the Philippines, 1907-1946. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 612734531 From the guide to the W. Cameron (William Cameron) Forbes images of the Philippines, 1907-1946., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University) Busin...

J.M. Forbes & Co. (Boston, Mass.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tx9fvk (corporateBody)

Forbes, R. B. (Robert Bennet), 1804-1889

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r78m84 (person)

Forbes, John Murray, 1813-1898

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c82fm6 (person)

Philanthropist, abolitionist. Contributed to the building of the railroad system in the United States. From the description of John Murray Forbes letter to George William Curtis, [manuscript], 1891 January 24. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 263078000 Forbes was a Boston businessman who was engaged in the China trade early in his life and later involved in railroad development in the American West. From the description of Letters from various corres...