A R Marty et Cie, Hong Kong trading house, established 1874 and Marty et d’Abbadie, Haiphong, Indochina

“The French merchant Auguste Raphael Marty (1841–1914) established his own trading house, A. R. Marty et Cie, in Hong Kong in 1874.

Information about this Hong Kong company appears thin on the ground – further details would be gratefully received.

Stephen Davies suggests that Marty in HK was only ever a shipping company office. 

Following the acquisition of northern Indochina by France, he and his business partner, [Edouard] Jules d’Abbadie [Born in Tonnay-Charente, France on 18 Jun 1853 to Antoine Edouard D Abbadie and Johanne Juliane Böhlke. Edouard Jules married Clementine Guerrier. He passed away in 1904 in Haiphong, Vietnam] in September 1886, founded the shipping company Marty et d’Abbadie in the port of Haiphong.

As one of the pioneers their firm soon became one of the most important French businesses in the Far East, operating the Subsidised River Shipping Service along the Tonkin coast and on the Red River, in addition to a regular ocean going shipping service between Haiphong and Hong Kong with occasional stopovers at Pakhoi, Hoihow, and Kwang-chow-wan.

Marty & D'Abbadie, Haiphong E Hatingx M&D'A Haiphong

Canadian Pacific Line SS Princess May, ex-Hating built 1888, purchased 1905 from Marty & D’Abbadie, Haiphong. Courtesy: www.simplonpc.co.uk

Chinese merchants regularly chartered Marty’s steamers for shipping goods and passengers. Competition with other Western shipping companies, especially in the lucrative rice trade, was intensive but Marty managed to maintain his business until his death and his company winded up soon after World War One.” (1)

This article was first posted on 18th May 2017.

Sources: Conference PaperConnecting French Indochina with Hong Kong: the Shipping Company Marty et d’Abbadie, 1886-1920s, B Becker, 2016, The Hong Kong University Scholars Hub

Related Indhhk articles:

  1. A R Marty & Company – Compagnie de Navigation Tonkinoise, Marty et D’Abbadie shipyard Haiphong
  2. Auguste Raphael Marty, obituary, founder of A. R. Marty in Hong Kong 1874

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