Keswick family

The Keswick family (pronounced with a silent "w", "Kezzick") are a business dynasty of Scottish origin associated with the Far East region since 1855 and in particular the conglomerate Jardine Matheson.

As

.

First generation

The Hon. William Keswick (1834–1912)

The founder of the dynasty, William Keswick was born in 1834, in Dumfriesshire in the

although the company stopped this trading in 1870 to pursue a broad range of other trading interests including shipping, railways, textiles and property development.

William arrived in China and Hong Kong in 1855, the first of five generations of the Keswick family to be associated with Jardines. He established a Jardine Matheson office in Yokohama, Japan in 1859. He returned to Hong Kong to become a partner of the firm in 1862. He became managing partner (Taipan) from 1874 to 1886. He left Hong Kong in 1886 to work with

Matheson & Co.

in London as a senior director responsible only to Sir Robert Jardine (1825–1905), a son of David Jardine, William Jardine's older brother and the head of Mathesons in London.

He spent three spells on the Legislative and Executive Councils of Hong Kong between 1868 and 1887.

William represented

He died at his home, Eastwick Park, Great Bookham, Surrey, on 9 March 1912.^[1] William had lived in the house since 1882 and on his death, it passed to his son Henry.^[2]

The Hon. James Johnstone Keswick (1845–1914)

' son-in-law and taipan of Jardine, Matheson from the 1890s to the turn of the century. He founded Hongkong Land together with close associate Sir Paul Chater, a development company established in 1889 which remained closely associated with Jardine Matheson.

John Johnstone Jardine Keswick (1842–1904)

John Johnstone Jardine

Second generation

Henry Keswick (1870–1928)

Son of William, Henry Keswick arrived in Hong Kong in 1895 the year before his uncle James left. He had previously spent two years in the New York office of Jardines.

The first gap in the long line of continuous association with Hong Kong occurred when he returned home to represent Hong Kong at the coronation of

" in 1922. He remained a director of Jardines until his death in 1928.

Like his father, Henry served as M.P. for Epsom, Surrey, and on his death left UK estate valued at £466,409,[7] worth approximately £46 million at 2014 values^[update].

He married Ida Wynifred Johnston and had 3 children, David Johnston, Sir

KCMG.

Third generation

The next family members to be associated with Hong Kong and Shanghai were Henry's sons "Tony" and John Keswick. As well as being directors of Jardines they served as members of the Legislative and Executive Councils in Hong Kong and of the

. They were also Chairmen of the Shanghai Municipal Council and Chamber of Commerce at various times. When William and his father Henry Keswick returned to the United Kingdom they both served as members of parliament with responsibility for Far Eastern interests.

Sir William Johnstone "Tony" Keswick (1903–1990)

"Tony" Keswick was born in

Sir John "The Younger" Keswick (1906–1982)

's staff.

John Keswick returned to Shanghai after the war to organise in the rebuilding of Jardine's office and to reestablish the firm's trading links throughout China and Asia. In 1949, after the communist party's takeover of China, Jardine's head office was moved to Hong Kong. Despite attempting to work with the communists, business conditions became worse. Operations were closed in 1954 with the effective nationalisation of the company's interests and a $20m loss.

John Keswick became a member of the Hong Kong Executive Council in 1952. He retired as Tai-pan in 1953 and joined Matheson & Co in 1956. He returned temporarily as non-executive chairman of Jardine Matheson in Hong Kong from 1970 to 1972. While in England, he and his brother financed the buy-out and then public flotation of Jardine Matheson.

He was married in 1940 to the Roman Catholic, Clare Elwes (1905–1998), youngest child of the tenor

, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho).

Fourth generation

Sir Henry Keswick

Tony Keswick's son, Young Henry, born 1938 as Henry Neville Lindley Keswick, joined Jardines in 1961 and was assigned to the firm's offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. He was made a director in 1967, senior managing director in 1970 and chairman in 1972. He retired as senior managing director and chairman in 1975. He returned to London and is the current chairman of Jardine Matheson Holdings.

Sir Chippendale Keswick

Sir

Simon Keswick

Young Henry's youngest brother, Simon Keswick, born 1942, joined the firm in 1962 and became a director in 1972 but left Jardines in 1977 to join his brother at Matheson & Co. He returned to join Jardines again in 1983 as senior managing director and then chairman after his father managed to remove the former managing director David Newbigging. Keswick started the restructuring of the company becoming more international rather than tied to Hong Kong.

He retired as Tai-pan in 1988 after seeing the firm's holding office redomiciled to Bermuda and restructuring the firm's senior management organisation.

Fifth generation

The family still owns considerable holdings in the company with a 5th generation working within the company.^[12]

Percy Weatherall

Percy Weatherall (born 1957) or Edward Percy Keswick Weatherall, is a great grandson of Henry Keswick (1870–1928). He was managing director of the Jardine Matheson Group from 2000 to 31 March 2006 having joined the board in 1999.

Weatherall joined the Jardine Group in 1976 and worked in a number of senior executive positions in Hong Kong, the US, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Korea and the Philippines. Prior to becoming "Taipan", Weatherall was chief executive officer of Hongkong Land.

Ben Keswick

Ben Keswick, son of Simon, born 1972, joined the board in April 2007. He was group managing director of Jardine Cycle & Carriage. He joined the group in 1998 and held positions in Dairy Farm and Hongkong Land before taking an MBA at INSEAD. In 2003, he was appointed finance director of Jardine Pacific, and was its chief executive officer from 2005 to 2007. Ben Keswick became chairman and managing director (taipan) of Jardine Matheson Limited in April 2012. He also holds senior leadership positions in Cycle & Carriage Bintang and MCL Land; and a commissioner of Astra and United Tractors.

Adam Keswick

Adam Keswick, born 1973, son of Chips, joined the board in April 2007. He is chief executive of Jardine Pacific and of

, he held positions within Group Treasury and Jardine Pacific. Mr Keswick was appointed group strategy director of Jardine Cycle & Carriage in 2003, and was group managing director from 2005 to 2007. He is also a director of Jardine Matheson Limited.

Family tree

This is the family tree of

.

See also

• Anglo-Chinese relations
• Jardine Matheson Holdings

References

Notes

Citations

1. ^ ^{a b} "Obituary". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. British Newspaper Archive. 11 March 1912. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
2. ^ "A History of Bookham". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
3. ^ Directory of Scotland 1899, pg 507
4. ^ England & Wales National Probate Calendar Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1966
5. ^ "Company Meetings, Reports &c". Aberdeen Journal. 4 April 1902. Retrieved 14 November 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. ^ The Railway News, vol. 51, 1889, pg 164
7. ^ "Big Scottish Estates". Aberdeen Journal. British Newspaper Archive. 15 July 1929. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
8. ^ "The New Governor". Aberdeen Evening Express. British Newspaper Archive. 13 February 1953. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
9. ISBN 978-0-521-52871-9
   .
10. ISBN 978-1-85984-568-4
    .
11. ^ Maggie's Centres
12. ^ Jardine Matheson Limited: Directors Archived 27 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine

Sources

• William Keswick, 1835–1912: Jardine's Pioneer in Japan by J. E. Hoare, Chapter 10, Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits
  ISBN 1-903350-14-X
• The Thistle and the Jade: A Celebration of 175 Years of Jardine, Matheson & Co. by Maggie Keswick
• Jardine Matheson Archives from Cambridge University

External links

• Position 98th on the Sunday Times Rich List 2008