William MacGregor Smith (Wahee, Smith & Co.) c1831- c1907
York Lo has sent the following information about William MacGregor Smith. He was the Smith in Wahee, Smith & Co which in turn became The China Sugar Refinery.
On page 50 of Carl Smith’s book Chinese Christians there is mention about the famous compradors the Tong brothers, and CS talks about their involvement with Wahee Smith and also sheds some more light as to who were Wahee and Smith
York continues: Jardine’s archives also seem to show that Smith was involved with Luzon Sugar refinery, the first of its kind in the Philippines.
Luzon Sugar was founded in 1880 by a company called Smith Bell – which surprisingly still exists today. Smith Bell’s founder James Adam Smith was sent to the Philippines by Jardines in 1833 – could he be the father of William Macgregor Smith?See: http://www.smithbell.com.ph/out/out.about.php
Sources:
(1) http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkgro/view/g1876/693319.pdf
This article was first posted on 27th February 2015.