James Matheson

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Portrait of James Matheson (published 1837)

Sir James Nicolas Sutherland Matheson, 1st Baronet (born November 17, 1796 in Shiness, Lairg , Scotland , † December 31, 1878 in Menton , France ) was a British businessman and politician.

Together with William Jardine , he was one of the most influential players in the opium trade in Canton during the First Opium War . The company led by him and Jardine developed into today's conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings .

Origin and career

Matheson came from a well-off financial situation. He studied at the University of Edinburgh . Due to the influence of his family, he was able to take up a position with the East India Company at the age of nineteen .

Opium trade in Canton

He eventually left the company and worked for independent merchants. Jardine and Matheson took over the trading company Magniac & Co in 1828 . This company was renamed Jardine, Matheson & Co in 1832 . Matheson was able to circumvent the monopoly of the East India Company through a Danish consultancy title. The two businessmen made great profits from the opium trade . Their business model was the acquisition of opium from British and Indian opium dealers and the sale to Chinese smugglers who took the opium off the coast and brought it into circulation in China.

Matheson advocated opening the Chinese market through a military showdown with the Qing dynasty . He supported the efforts of Lord Napier and after his death developed into the patron saint of his bereaved. 1835-1836 he made a trip to England for medical reasons, during which he also unsuccessfully dedicated himself to lobbying for a punitive expedition against China after the failure of Napier.

Matheson was also the editor of the first European-language newspaper in Canton, the Canton Register , which he founded in 1825 by making a printing press available .

Return to Scotland

After Jardine's death a year after the end of the First Opium War, in which both were able to achieve their goals, Matheson took over the management of the company and the seat of Jardines in the House of Commons . He then retired to Scotland, where he acquired the Isle of Lewis as his residence. In addition to his other work in parliament, he devoted himself to charitable projects.

In 1868 he retired into private life and gave up his parliamentary seat. He died in Menton on the Côte d'Azur in 1878 .

His nephew Donald Matheson used the fortune he inherited from James Mathesen to abolish the opium trade.

Publications

  • James Matheson: The Present position and prospects of the British trade with China: together with an outline of some leading occurrences in its past history London. 1836

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Julia Lovell: The Opium War. London, 2011, pp. 24-26
  2. ↑ a b c d Stephen R. Platt: Imperial Twilight - The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age. New York, 2019, pp. 200 - 202, 316, 322 - 324
  3. ↑ Stephen R. Platt: Imperial Twilight - The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age. New York, 2019, p. 432
  4. ↑ Julia Lovell: The Opium War. London, 2011, p. 268
personal data
SURNAME Matheson, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Matheson, Sir James Nicolas Sutherland, 1st Baronet (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British entrepreneur and politician
DATE OF BIRTH November 17, 1796
PLACE OF BIRTH Shiness, Lairg , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH December 31, 1878
Place of death Menton