William Keswick

Notes:

    William Keswick, born in 1834, was a trader in the Far East from 1855 to 1886, when the first mass consumer use of a product refined from crude oil - paraffin - was taking off. He returned to England by coal-powered steamship, a journey lasting several weeks, and settled at Eastwick Park, a rambling Georgian pile.

The house was occupied by the Keswick family and half a dozen live-in servants. Before the oil age, energy for hot water, cooking and heating rooms was supplied by coal. Travel was by horsepower and coal-powered train.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,782533,00.html

    Managing Director of Jardine Matheson & Co. "Another great-nephew of Jardine who would be taipan in 1874, William Keswick, was the ancestor of the Keswick branch of the family." http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/w/wi/william_jardine.htm

    William Keswick, a great-nephew of William Jardine, joined the bank's board of directors in 1877 and later became its chairman.

http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/enterprise_and_society/v004/4.1connell.html

    Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce:

            1870

            1877-81

            1884-85

"An international Chamber with Chinese characteristics

Recognising the increasingly established nature of the Chinese merchant community, in the 1879 General Meeting presided by William Keswick of Jardine Matheson, a motion was proposed by W H Forbes and seconded by Mr Arnhold, that Messrs Lee Sing, Lee Tak-cheong, and Ching Sing-yeong be elected members of the Chamber. Accordingly, in 1880, three Chinese firms, namely, the Sun Yee Hong, the Lai Hing Hong, and the Tak On Bank, were elected as the first Chinese members of the Chamber.

The Chinese members quickly took on an active role in the Chamber's affairs. This was exemplified by the General Meeting of 1881 when Ho Amei of the On-Tai Insurance Company made a speech proposing that the Chamber address the issue of restrictions on emigration to Honolulu, which was seconded and adopted accordingly."
http://www.chamber.org.hk/info/the_bulletin/april2001/hkgcc.asp