William Howell Forbes
William Howell Forbes | |
---|---|
Born | Russell & Co. | November 25, 1837
Spouse |
Deborah Perry Delano
(m. 1867) |
Parent(s) | Paul Siemen Forbes Valeria Medora Forbes |
Relatives | Franklin Delano Roosevelt (nephew) |
William Howell Forbes (November 25, 1837 – July 10, 1896) was an American businessman in Hong Kong. He was the head partner of the
Early life
William Forbes was born on November 25, 1837, in New York, United States to the
Career
Like many family members before him, William Forbes joined the Russell & Co. as a partner in 1865 in the trading firm when the
Russell & Co. refused to join the
However, the Russell & Co. gradually lost competition against the British
Russells failure
Russells attempted to rescue itself when it was about to bankrupt by founding the National Bank of China to draw some capital. Forbes became one of the founders with his brother Henry De Courcy and the Howqua family whom they had established a close relationship for a long time. S. W. Pomeroy, a Russell partner and former director of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, with other members of the company, criticised Forbes brothers for sponsoring the National Bank in which the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank viewed as rival, which led to William Forbes's resignation from the board of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in March 1891.[5]
As a result, credit from that bank to Russell & Co. was curtailed. The antagonistic Hongkong and Shanghai Bank forced Russells to sell its assets to bail it out. The Russell & Co. collapsed few months after on 9 June 1891. The firm was business acquired by two of its employees, Robert Shewan and Alexander Charles Tomes, who renamed the firm Shewan, Tomes & Co. in 1895.[5]
Life in Hong Kong
During his life in Hong Kong, Forbes was also vice-president of the
Personal life
In 1867, after a period of engagement, Forbes married Deborah "Dora" Perry Delano (1847–1940), daughter of
Forbes lived with his wife at a villa called Rose Hill on Caine Rd, in Hong Kong. He died on July 10, 1896, at the age of 58, in Newburgh, New York, and was buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. After William died in 1896, his wife Dora married his brother, Paul Revere, in 1903.[13][14]
References
- ^ "Forbes Family. Forbes Family Business Records, 1658–1968: A Finding Aid". Harvard Business School, Boston, MA.
- ^ "Forbes Family Papers". Massachusetts Historical Society.
- ^ "History of J.M. Forbes & Co". J.M. Forbes & Co. LLP.
- ^ a b c Ji, Zhaojin (2003). A History of Modern Shanghai Banking: The Rise and Decline of China's Finance Capitalism. M.E. Sharpe. p. 61.
- ^ a b c He, Sibing (2011). "Russell and Company in Shanghai, 1843–1891: U. S. Trade and Diplomacy in Treaty Port China" (PDF). Hong Kong University.
- ^ Carrow M.D., Flemming (1878). Report of the Medical Missionary Society's Hospital in Canton, China, for the Year 1877 (PDF). Hongkong: De Souza & Co.
- ^ Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce – Report for the Year 1887 (PDF). Hongkong: Noronha & Co. 1888.
- ^ "1884-11-04 Formation HKJC". Racing Memories.
- ^ "The Hong Kong Government Gazette (no. 153)". 26 April 1884: 342.
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(help) - ^ "39 Conduit Road: the prequel". Gillis Heller. 30 August 2010.
- ^ Butow, R.J.C. (1999). "A Notable Passage to China – Myth and Memory in FDR's Family History, Part 3". Prologue Magazine.
- ^ Pottker, Jan (2014). Sara and Eleanor: The Story of Sara Delano Roosevelt and Her Daughter-in-Law, Eleanor Roosevelt. St. Martin's Press. p. 83.
- ^ "Roosevelt Genealogy". Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
- ^ "Society at Home and Abroad" (PDF). New York Times. 14 June 1903.