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William Jardine (24 February 1784 – 27 February 1843) was a Scottish physician and merchant. He co-founded the Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine, Matheson and Company. From 1841 to 1843, he was Member of Parliament for Ashburton as a Whig.
Sir James Nicolas Sutherland Matheson, 1st Baronet (17 October 1796 – 31 December 1878), born in Shiness, Lairg, Sutherland, Scotland, was the son of Captain Donald Matheson, a Scottish trader in India. He attended Edinburgh's Royal High School and the University of Edinburgh.<br/><br/> On 1 July 1832, Jardine, Matheson and Company, a partnership, between William Jardine, James Matheson as senior partners, and Hollingworth Magniac, Alexander Matheson, Jardine's nephew Andrew Johnstone, Matheson's nephew Hugh Matheson, John Abel Smith, and Henry Wright, as the first partners was formed in Canton, and took the Chinese name 'Ewo' (怡和 'Yee-Wo' literally Happy Harmony). The name was taken from the earlier Ewo Hong founded by Howqua which had an honest and upright reputation.<br/><br/> In 1834, Parliament ended the monopoly of the British East India Company on trade between Britain and China. Jardine, Matheson and Company took this opportunity to fill the vacuum left by the East India Company. With its first voyage carrying tea, the Jardine clipper ship 'Sarah' left for England. Jardine Matheson began its transformation from a major commercial agent of the East India Company into the largest British trading hong, or firm, in Asia from its base in Hong Kong.<br/><br/> Jardine wanted the opium trade to expand in China and despatched Matheson to England to lobby the Government to press the Qing government to further open up trade. Matheson's mission proved unsuccessful and he was rebuked by the then British Foreign Secretary The Duke of Wellington. In a report, he complained to Jardine over being insulted by an 'arrogant and stupid man'. Matheson returned to Asia in 1838 and the following year Jardine left for England to continue lobbying.<br/><br/> Jardine's lobbying efforts proved more effective than his partner's and he succeeded in persuading the new British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston to wage war on Qing China. The subsequent First Opium War led to the Treaty of Nanking which allowed Jardines to expand from Canton to Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Sir James Nicolas Sutherland Matheson, 1st Baronet (17 October 1796 – 31 December 1878), born in Shiness, Lairg, Sutherland, Scotland, was the son of Captain Donald Matheson, a Scottish trader in India. He attended Edinburgh's Royal High School and the University of Edinburgh.<br/><br/> On 1 July 1832, Jardine, Matheson and Company, a partnership, between William Jardine, James Matheson as senior partners, and Hollingworth Magniac, Alexander Matheson, Jardine's nephew Andrew Johnstone, Matheson's nephew Hugh Matheson, John Abel Smith, and Henry Wright, as the first partners was formed in Canton, and took the Chinese name 'Ewo' (怡和 'Yee-Wo' literally Happy Harmony). The name was taken from the earlier Ewo Hong founded by Howqua which had an honest and upright reputation.<br/><br/> In 1834, Parliament ended the monopoly of the British East India Company on trade between Britain and China. Jardine, Matheson and Company took this opportunity to fill the vacuum left by the East India Company. With its first voyage carrying tea, the Jardine clipper ship 'Sarah' left for England. Jardine Matheson began its transformation from a major commercial agent of the East India Company into the largest British trading hong, or firm, in Asia from its base in Hong Kong.<br/><br/> Jardine wanted the opium trade to expand in China and despatched Matheson to England to lobby the Government to press the Qing government to further open up trade. Matheson's mission proved unsuccessful and he was rebuked by the then British Foreign Secretary The Duke of Wellington. In a report, he complained to Jardine over being insulted by an 'arrogant and stupid man'. Matheson returned to Asia in 1838 and the following year Jardine left for England to continue lobbying.<br/><br/> Jardine's lobbying efforts proved more effective than his partner's and he succeeded in persuading the new British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston to wage war on Qing China. The subsequent First Opium War led to the Treaty of Nanking which allowed Jardines to expand from Canton to Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Jardine Matheson & Co., later Jardine Matheson & Co. Ltd., forerunner of today's Jardine Matheson Holdings, was a Far Eastern trading company founded in 1832 with Scotsmen William Jardine and James Matheson as senior partners. Trading in opium, cotton, tea, silk and a variety of other goods, from its early beginnings in Canton (modern day Guangzhou), in 1844 the firm established its head office in the new British colony of Hong Kong then proceeded to expand all along the China Coast.<br/><br/> By the end of the nineteenth century, Jardine, Matheson & Co. had become the largest of the foreign trading companies in the Far East and had expanded its activities into sectors including shipping, cotton mills and railway construction.<br/><br/> Further growth occurred in the early decades of the twentieth century with new cold storage, packing and brewing businesses while the firm also became the largest cotton spinner in Shanghai.<br/><br/> After the founding of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, doing business in the country became increasingly problematic. As a result, foreign businesses gradually withdrew from the mainland with Jardines leaving in 1954 to reconsolidate its business in Hong Kong. The firm would not return to mainland China until 1979, following the reform and opening up of the country.