Balfour Williamson & Co was a shipping company based in
Liverpool,
England, and later an export
confirming house and
freight forwarding company. Latterly a subsidiary of
Lonmin (formerly Lonrho). In October 2016 the company returned to family ownership when acquired by
Guthrie Williamson, the great-great-great grandson of the founder
Stephen Williamson.
The company was founded in 1851 by two young men from
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
, Scotland,
Alexander Balfour
Alexander Balfour (2 September 1824 – 16 April 1886) was a Scottish merchant and founder of the Liverpool shipping company Balfour Williamson.
Biography
Balfour was born in Leven, Fife, the son of Henry Balfour, a foundry owner. He was e ...
and
Stephen Williamson. They were joined for a time by a third partner,
David Duncan. The company traded with South America, and had offices in
Valparaiso,
Chile and
San Francisco.
Williamson and Duncan were responsible for the company's operations in Chile, which thrived. A subsidiary was set up in Chile, the
Williamson-Balfour Company, which was involved in many activities, most notably in sheep farming on
Easter Island between 1897 and 1953.
The company's first ship was the ''Gardner'', soon replaced by the ''
Santiago'', a 455-ton
barque. The ''Santiago'' was sold in 1888, and later the hulk was used as a coal store in
Adelaide,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, where it still lies. A later ship, the San Rafael caught fire off Cape Horn in December 1874 with the loss of 19 and 5 survivors who spent 27 days in an open boat
[Bulletin of The Liverpool Nautical Research Society vol 53 25.28]
The company's archives were deposited with
University College London between 1977 and 1979.
The collection includes correspondence, legal and financial records, histories, and photographs.
See also
Wallis Hunt, Heirs to Great Adventure, the History of Balfour Williamson & Company, Vol. 1 1851-1901 (1951) London; Vol. 2 1901-1951 (1960) London.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Balfour Williamson & Company Archiveat
University College London
Companies based in Liverpool
Shipping companies of the United Kingdom