Parsee Houses.
It may serve to illustrate the position of the mercantile
world of 1845 in Bombay if we add a list of the Parsee leading
firms which were carrying on business at the advent of Exchange
Banking. The names of some of their old-world places of
business enhance the interest of the note, and while the reader
will recognise the " forbears " of some of our honoured magnates,
there are others which have disappeared from this chequered
web of history.
Bomanjee and Ardaseer Hormusjee, Old Theatre.
Byramjee Jeejeebhoy, Rampart Row.
Cursetlee Ardaseer Dady, Borah Bazaar Street.
Cursetjee Covvasjee Sous and Co., Grant Buildings, Colaba.
Dadabhoy and Muncherjee Pestonjee, Borah Bazaar Street.
Dadabhoy Rustomjee Banajee, Rampart Row.
Framjee Covvasjee, Apollo Street
.
Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy Sons and Co., Gunbow Street.
Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy Sons and Co., Rampart Row.
Mauackjee Nusscrwanjee Petit.
Muncherjee and Pestonjee Framjee Cama, Old Theatre.
Nusserwanjee Bomanjee Mody, Old Theatre.
Nowrojee Ardaseer Davur, Old Theatre.
Ruttoujee Edusjee Bottlewalla, Gunbow Street.
Jamsetjee Furdonjee Paruck, Church Gate Street.
Manackjee Limjee Cowasjce.
By way of explanation we only now add that on the com-
pletion of Grant Buildings :-
there was a considerable migration of native and half a dozen English houses of business to it (1844), as it was the belief then that it would eventually become the mercantile centre.
The site of the Old Theatre was Hormusjee's block in the Elphinstone Circle, :-
next to the Chartered Bank, and Gunbow Street is adjacent and has got an ornamental fountain near it.
SOME MEECHANTS OF 1845 AND THEIR METHODS OF BUSINESS.
Bombay Stock Exchange c 1864
BOMBAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Established September 22nd, 1836.
List ok Members, December 15th, 1845.
John Smith, Esq., Chairman.
W. S. Grey, Esq., Deputy Chairman.
Managing Committee in Office till August, 1846.
The Chairman, ex officio. The Deputy Chairman, ex officio.
Members :
L. A. Wallace, Esq.
J. Stuait, Esq.
S. D. Murray, E?q.
W. Graham, Esq.
J. PHrsons, ESq.
A. Cassels, Esq.
W. S. Brown, Esq.
Curse tjee Cowasjei', Esq.
Ardaseer Cursetjee, Esq.
Dhackjee Dadajee, Esq.
Messrs. Ritchie, Steuart and Co., Treasurers.
T. J. A. Scoit, Secretary.
Firms composing the Chamber.
Messrs. Ritchie, Steuart & Co.
„ William Nicol & Co.
„ Dirom Hunter & Co.
„ Brownrigo; & Co.
„ W. & T. Edmond & Co.
„ Martin Murray & Co.
„ Macvicar, Burn & Co.
„ Ewart, Lyon & Co.
„ HiCTgii.son &; Cardwell
„ Frith &; Co.
„ Grey &; Co.
„ Campbell, Miller & Co.
„ Wm. & Alexander Graham &;Co.
„ Campbell, Dallas & Co.
„ G. S. King & Co.
Messrs. Leckie & Co.
Cresswell, Rawson & Co.
Lyons, Livingstone & Co.
■W. Elsam &aCo.
Henry, Wooler & Co.
Peel, Cassels & Co.
Huschke, Wattenbach & Co.
Cursetjee Ardaseer & Co.
Cursctjee Cowasjee & Co.
Dadabhoy & M. Pestonjee.
JeejeeVihoy Dadabhoy Sons
&Co.
Framjee Cowasjee, Esq,
Dadabhoy Rustomjee, Esq.
Juggannath Sunkersett, Esq.
Dady Rustomjee, Et-q.
John Smith had accompanied Dr. Wilson (1843-44) in his tour through Egypt and Syria. Andrew Cassels and William Graham, M.P., became members of the Indian Council in London.Several of the native members have already been noticed. In 1842 Dhackjee Dadajee's house was the object of suspicions.
is place was overhauled, and though fourteen lakhs of theGaekwar's were discovered, the suspicions were altogetherUnfounded.
The Chamber of Commerce was established under the auspices of Sir Robert Grant.He is known to some people as the writer of some of our best hymns, to others as having given his assistance to the removal of the civil disabilities of the Jews, to others as having helped to make "the main drain," and to all petitioners in these olden days as one of the most dilatory of men, insomuch that when applications went in to Parell, it was never known when a reply would come out, and it was then Parell was nicknamed " Chancery."
Slow but sure, whenever he saw that his course was clear, in such great enterprises as the Bank of Bombay, the Over- land Route, or the Chamber of Commerce, it was then that he threw into the scale the weight of his great authority.
The Tanna and Colaba Causeways are his monuments, besides hundreds of miles of good roads between this and Sholapore. am under the impression that the Chamber voted a marble cenotaph to his memory in the Byclla Church or elsewhere, and he well deserved it, for a better man never filled the Governor's chair.
Here then is the Commercial Body of Bombay as it stood about 1845.
It is noticeable that neither Forbes, nor Remington, nor Sassoon had as yet joined the Chamber for
reasons unknown to us. The reason for their not joining inbanking enterprise at the first is obvious enough, and one can sympathise with their caution.
No doubt the privileges of " The Four Houses," as they were called — Forbes, Remington,
Leckie, and Shotton — were abolished by the charter of 1834, hen all Indian firms without exception were put upon the same level,
but it is a curious fact that so late as 1841, when a charter was applied for, the " Bank of Asia," a big, ill-starred institution, of which some of the capital was paid up, the East India Company gave as one of their reasons for refusing it that the bank would come into collision with houses dealing in European exchange.
Be that as it may, we need not say that, at the time of which we write, Robert Wigram Crawford, of
Remington and Co., was one of the most conspicuous men in Bombay (he resided here from 1833 to 18 7), and the admiration enlisted by him here was fully justified afterwards by the brilliant career which awaited him in London, and though his name is not in this list, he appears in 1845 as a Director of the Bank of Bombay, the other two houses and his own contributing in subsequent years a most influential quota to the Board of this
long well-managed institution.
We have omitted among those who did not join, the name of Edward Bates, without which any list of the merchants of Bombay in 1845 would be incomplete.
Only three or four firms are now (1895) in existence under the same style and designation. Nor is this at all wonderful, for I dare say the same observation for the same period would hold good in regard to the ommercial history of Melbourne, New York, or London.
But we are not here to moralise, for there are many firms in India, the family relations of which have descended to the present generation, and whose business is carried on by scions of those who were masters of the field, or were becoming so fifty years ago.
If you wish continuity and instances of how names perpetuate themselves you must go to Government and the men who do its business, and you will find that the most exalted of our day,
Mansfield, Bird wood, and Willoughby, are the names of soldiers and civilians of this Presidency fifty years ago —
names now "familiar in our mouths as household words," and which constitute a pleasing link between the present time and the past . At this period the English houses were their own bankers and brokers. The exporters generally made as many bills as the importers required, and the business was done direct without the intervention of a broker
. The first exchange broker in Bombay was Nelson Howard.
When he came brokerage on bills was a half per cent. But he is not due yet for a year or two. The modus operandi of Exchange. As we have indicated, exchange business was carried through by the import houses buying from the export ones , and, generally speaking, as the balance was in favour of India,
The eminent firm of Sir Edward Bates & Co. was closed in Bombay in1898.was sufficient ; when any hiatus presented itself the bills drawno in London on the
Indian Treasuries were available — what we now call Council Bills, of which the East India Company
had been issuing at fitful times and prices about two millions sterling annually for ten years up to 1843.
Any balance unadjusted by bills was left to the ultimate ratio of bullion, which was pitched about between Bombay and London according to the exigencies of trade.
Bombay exports to all places of the known world in 1843-44 ad valorem were Ks. 8,29,15,366 ; imports for the same period Rs. 9,25,46,220.
For ten years the shipments of silver from London to all parts of India annually averaged about 160 lakhs. This may satisfy the curious reader as to the bulk and extent of the Bombay trade fifty years ago, and will enable him to compare such items as exports, imports, bullion, and Council Bills with the gigantic proportions they have now assumed.
The houses of fifty years ago advertised in' the newspapers when they had bills for sale, and from the replies took their cue as to their disposal. Forbes and Remington do not appear much in this way. The following are a few advertisements culled at random : —
" Messrs. Prinsep and Co., Agents of Messrs. Palmer and Co., Calcutta,
will draw upon Messrs. Cockerell, Trail and Co., 6 mos. at Is. 9Jrf. until
further notice. — Bombny, 10th Dec, 1824."
" Fiir sale at the office of William Nicol and Co , Bank of England notes
for £50, £20, £10, and £5 at Rs. 11 per £1."
And again,
" Bills on London,
Boyal Bank of Scotland, on Thomas Coutts imd Co., London, at 30 days'
sight, at Is. 10c?. at Ritchie, Steuart and Co., Irf34, Dec. 6."
"McGregor, Brownrisg and Co. offer their 30 days' sight bills on
Sir Charles Cockerell, Barotiet, at 2s., 1837, Jan. 3."
" Bills on Freilerick Huth and Co. at 60 days' siglit, and in sots to suit
the convenience. Edmond, Bibby and Co., 1^37, Dec. 9."
The business of dealing in English Exchange was not
confined to English Houses. Here are two advertisements : —
" 1828, Aug. 13, £5,000 6 months' Bills en a Letter of Credit from a
house in London of the first respectability offered at Is. 9i(?."
Jehantiier and Nowrojee N'usserwanjee.
1829, Feb. 4, Bills on London, Jehangier and Mowrojee Nusserwanjee
have received from Calcutta a sum in Bills of Exchange on London at six
months which they will dispone of."
-And again,
Jehangier Nusserwanjee Wadia on Baring Brothers six months for sale,
1837, J an. 17."
These two names as we shall see have more than a passing interest for us in 1895. They belong to the Wadia family, and were the names of brothers in business as private bankers, and for some time financial brokers to William Nicol and Co. (1824 to 1842). Nowrojee died in 1827;
Jehangier died in 1849. Nowrojee left one son, Manockji, who was married to the only daughter of
Jehangier. That daughter, widow of Manockji (who died in 1837), still lives among us, venerable and venerated — eighty- three years of age — a veritable lady —
Motlihai — renowned wherever Bombay is spoken of for her deeds of charity and beneficence. Honour to whom honour is due.
" She has a tear for pity and a hand open as day for melting charity."'
Most people imagine that the ancient merchant or private banker of Bombay before the advent of Joint Stock Banks was not troubled much with the exchange question. This is a great fallacy. Between 1817 and 1823 exchange fell from 2s. M. to Is. 8^c?., or over 30 per cent.
Dear money in these years was caused by the army of the Dekhan, which consumed an immense
sum. This was part of the price we paid for our acquisitions.
Again in 1837,
on May 9th, exchange touched 2s. O^d., and on June 15th, or six weeks thereafter, it was Is. M. I think
this beats the record of the last thirty yeais (1865-95) within a similar space of time. The mercantile circulars call the fall 20 per cent., and I am not going to quarrel with their arithmetic.Bad was the best of it, except for the
" Bears,"
if such existed in these prehistoric times, and quite sufficient to turn men's hair gray in a single night. The Chamber had not been in existence for half a dozen years when they were confronted with the exchange question, and the way in which it was affected by the issue of what we call Council Bills to defray the
home charges. So far as any body of men can fix the rate of Died May 25th, 1897 (one of her two sons, Nusserwanjee, died three weeks before her), leaving J^. M. Wadia, Esq., C.I.E., her remaining son, to
inherit her great fortune.
exchange,
the East India Company had that power in the disposal of their drafts on India in London and their purchase of bills in India, and the Chamber justly com- plains that in London, by abrupt leaps and bounds of a
halfpenny and even a penny at a time, they raised the rate from Is. llc^. in March, 1842, to 2s. l^d. in April the same year, being a fluctuation of 10 per cent.
On the 30th January, 1843,
the Chamber sent a memorial to the Board of Control complaining of the evils and grievances to which trade was subjected by the extraordinary fluctuations and uncertainty in the rate of exchange, caused by the mode in which the Court of Directors at present provide themselves with the funds required for the home charges, and pray that the exchange operations between the two countries may be placed on a sound and proper footing, and be conducted on some fixed, just, and well- understood principles. I do not think the Company in Bombay sold many bills on London.Men took home their piles in produce, if they managed to escape the clutches of Augria — often in diamonds.
We are sorry to say anything against this fine old Company.They actually, in 1821, went so far out of their way as to promise to remit the Robert Burns statue fund from Bombay at 2s. Sd. I rather, however, fancy that when the bill was obtained the rate in the open market was 2s. 3d.
No doubt the merchant had compensation in the profit that accrued between the selling and buying rate of bills, and the rates which follow will afford a more pleasant perusal than the shadowy differences of recent times.
Buying Rate.
182fi, July 1 2.S-. Id. to 2s. 2d.
1828, Jan. 1 Is. llt^.
1835, Aug. 1 2s.
1836, Jnn. 23 2s.
„ Dec. 31 2s. Id.
1837, Aug. 19, 30 dys' st., Is. 9K
1839, May 28, 6 mos,, 2s. Ifrf.
The flow of gold and silver into India had not been continuous, and it is observed in 1834, " For the last fifteen years there has been a constant exportation of bullion from India to england going on." The tide is now turned " and exportation ceased, so we may expect a return of the precious metals."
It is now looked upon as a fable that the Bank of Scotland's fine building in Edinburgh was defrayed from these, and there was a feeling of disappointment, when the old Bank of Bombay was wound up, that there was so small an asset from this con- tingency. The period of that Bank was pacific and unlike the old times before it. There was a heavy death-roll all through the eighteenth and the first quarter of the nineteenth century. We do not set great store on these windfalls as an item in the balance sheet of private or public banking, but M'Cluer (1795), the Master Mason, whose funds our Administrator- General may know about, and for which nobody can substantiate a claim, bespeaks an increment which may have been somewhat
substantial. ( Vide article Masonic Legacy.)
Where the Merchants Lived.
Most of them before this time used to live at Mazagon and the Fort. Now they were scattered over the island — John Smith at Love Grove, James Wright at the Dock, Alexr. Hadden at the Mount, Edward Bates at Chinchpoogly (also Sir Henry Eoper, Chief Justice), Robert Strong, Edward Lyon, and Thomas Cardwell at Breach Candy. :-
Two young men, shortly thereafter, David Watson and A. J. Hunter (one became Sheriff and the other Member of Council), had their house in Grant's Buildings, which were new, and a favourite
place in those days.
There was a rush to Malabar Hill,
and
the ground could not be cleared fast enough, for as soon as plots were laid out and houses available, tenants were ready. Here are the upper ten, or avant couriers, in 1845 of all who have since made this pleasant place their habitation
:—
Andrew Cassels, Robert Wigram Crawford, Thomas Lan- caster, Vincent Ashfield King, John Parsons, Alexander Eemington, Archibald Smart, William Scott, J. E. Maclachlan, Mr. Molyneux, to which may be added two or three men of the legal profession
It may serve to illustrate the position of the mercantile
world of 1845 in Bombay if we add a list of the Parsee leading
firms which were carrying on business at the advent of Exchange
Banking. The names of some of their old-world places of
business enhance the interest of the note, and while the reader
will recognise the " forbears " of some of our honoured magnates,
there are others which have disappeared from this chequered
web of history.
Bomanjee and Ardaseer Hormusjee, Old Theatre.
Byramjee Jeejeebhoy, Rampart Row.
Cursetlee Ardaseer Dady, Borah Bazaar Street.
Cursetjee Covvasjee Sous and Co., Grant Buildings, Colaba.
Dadabhoy and Muncherjee Pestonjee, Borah Bazaar Street.
Dadabhoy Rustomjee Banajee, Rampart Row.
Framjee Covvasjee, Apollo Street
.
Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy Sons and Co., Gunbow Street.
Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy Sons and Co., Rampart Row.
Mauackjee Nusscrwanjee Petit.
Muncherjee and Pestonjee Framjee Cama, Old Theatre.
Nusserwanjee Bomanjee Mody, Old Theatre.
Nowrojee Ardaseer Davur, Old Theatre.
Ruttoujee Edusjee Bottlewalla, Gunbow Street.
Jamsetjee Furdonjee Paruck, Church Gate Street.
Manackjee Limjee Cowasjce.
By way of explanation we only now add that on the com-
pletion of Grant Buildings :-
there was a considerable migration of native and half a dozen English houses of business to it (1844), as it was the belief then that it would eventually become the mercantile centre.
The site of the Old Theatre was Hormusjee's block in the Elphinstone Circle, :-
next to the Chartered Bank, and Gunbow Street is adjacent and has got an ornamental fountain near it.
SOME MEECHANTS OF 1845 AND THEIR METHODS OF BUSINESS.
Bombay Stock Exchange c 1864BOMBAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Established September 22nd, 1836.
List ok Members, December 15th, 1845.
John Smith, Esq., Chairman.
W. S. Grey, Esq., Deputy Chairman.
Managing Committee in Office till August, 1846.
The Chairman, ex officio. The Deputy Chairman, ex officio.
Members :
L. A. Wallace, Esq.
J. Stuait, Esq.
S. D. Murray, E?q.
W. Graham, Esq.
J. PHrsons, ESq.
A. Cassels, Esq.
W. S. Brown, Esq.
Curse tjee Cowasjei', Esq.
Ardaseer Cursetjee, Esq.
Dhackjee Dadajee, Esq.
Messrs. Ritchie, Steuart and Co., Treasurers.
T. J. A. Scoit, Secretary.
Firms composing the Chamber.
Messrs. Ritchie, Steuart & Co.
„ William Nicol & Co.
„ Dirom Hunter & Co.
„ Brownrigo; & Co.
„ W. & T. Edmond & Co.
„ Martin Murray & Co.
„ Macvicar, Burn & Co.
„ Ewart, Lyon & Co.
„ HiCTgii.son &; Cardwell
„ Frith &; Co.
„ Grey &; Co.
„ Campbell, Miller & Co.
„ Wm. & Alexander Graham &;Co.
„ Campbell, Dallas & Co.
„ G. S. King & Co.
Messrs. Leckie & Co.
Cresswell, Rawson & Co.
Lyons, Livingstone & Co.
■W. Elsam &aCo.
Henry, Wooler & Co.
Peel, Cassels & Co.
Huschke, Wattenbach & Co.
Cursetjee Ardaseer & Co.
Cursctjee Cowasjee & Co.
Dadabhoy & M. Pestonjee.
JeejeeVihoy Dadabhoy Sons
&Co.
Framjee Cowasjee, Esq,
Dadabhoy Rustomjee, Esq.
Juggannath Sunkersett, Esq.
Dady Rustomjee, Et-q.
John Smith had accompanied Dr. Wilson (1843-44) in his tour through Egypt and Syria. Andrew Cassels and William Graham, M.P., became members of the Indian Council in London.Several of the native members have already been noticed. In 1842 Dhackjee Dadajee's house was the object of suspicions.
is place was overhauled, and though fourteen lakhs of theGaekwar's were discovered, the suspicions were altogetherUnfounded.
The Chamber of Commerce was established under the auspices of Sir Robert Grant.He is known to some people as the writer of some of our best hymns, to others as having given his assistance to the removal of the civil disabilities of the Jews, to others as having helped to make "the main drain," and to all petitioners in these olden days as one of the most dilatory of men, insomuch that when applications went in to Parell, it was never known when a reply would come out, and it was then Parell was nicknamed " Chancery."
Slow but sure, whenever he saw that his course was clear, in such great enterprises as the Bank of Bombay, the Over- land Route, or the Chamber of Commerce, it was then that he threw into the scale the weight of his great authority.
The Tanna and Colaba Causeways are his monuments, besides hundreds of miles of good roads between this and Sholapore. am under the impression that the Chamber voted a marble cenotaph to his memory in the Byclla Church or elsewhere, and he well deserved it, for a better man never filled the Governor's chair.
Here then is the Commercial Body of Bombay as it stood about 1845.
It is noticeable that neither Forbes, nor Remington, nor Sassoon had as yet joined the Chamber for
reasons unknown to us. The reason for their not joining inbanking enterprise at the first is obvious enough, and one can sympathise with their caution.
No doubt the privileges of " The Four Houses," as they were called — Forbes, Remington,
Leckie, and Shotton — were abolished by the charter of 1834, hen all Indian firms without exception were put upon the same level,
but it is a curious fact that so late as 1841, when a charter was applied for, the " Bank of Asia," a big, ill-starred institution, of which some of the capital was paid up, the East India Company gave as one of their reasons for refusing it that the bank would come into collision with houses dealing in European exchange.
Be that as it may, we need not say that, at the time of which we write, Robert Wigram Crawford, of
Remington and Co., was one of the most conspicuous men in Bombay (he resided here from 1833 to 18 7), and the admiration enlisted by him here was fully justified afterwards by the brilliant career which awaited him in London, and though his name is not in this list, he appears in 1845 as a Director of the Bank of Bombay, the other two houses and his own contributing in subsequent years a most influential quota to the Board of this
long well-managed institution.
We have omitted among those who did not join, the name of Edward Bates, without which any list of the merchants of Bombay in 1845 would be incomplete.
Only three or four firms are now (1895) in existence under the same style and designation. Nor is this at all wonderful, for I dare say the same observation for the same period would hold good in regard to the ommercial history of Melbourne, New York, or London.
But we are not here to moralise, for there are many firms in India, the family relations of which have descended to the present generation, and whose business is carried on by scions of those who were masters of the field, or were becoming so fifty years ago.
If you wish continuity and instances of how names perpetuate themselves you must go to Government and the men who do its business, and you will find that the most exalted of our day,
Mansfield, Bird wood, and Willoughby, are the names of soldiers and civilians of this Presidency fifty years ago —
names now "familiar in our mouths as household words," and which constitute a pleasing link between the present time and the past . At this period the English houses were their own bankers and brokers. The exporters generally made as many bills as the importers required, and the business was done direct without the intervention of a broker
. The first exchange broker in Bombay was Nelson Howard.
When he came brokerage on bills was a half per cent. But he is not due yet for a year or two. The modus operandi of Exchange. As we have indicated, exchange business was carried through by the import houses buying from the export ones , and, generally speaking, as the balance was in favour of India,
The eminent firm of Sir Edward Bates & Co. was closed in Bombay in1898.was sufficient ; when any hiatus presented itself the bills drawno in London on the
Indian Treasuries were available — what we now call Council Bills, of which the East India Company
had been issuing at fitful times and prices about two millions sterling annually for ten years up to 1843.
Any balance unadjusted by bills was left to the ultimate ratio of bullion, which was pitched about between Bombay and London according to the exigencies of trade.
Bombay exports to all places of the known world in 1843-44 ad valorem were Ks. 8,29,15,366 ; imports for the same period Rs. 9,25,46,220.
For ten years the shipments of silver from London to all parts of India annually averaged about 160 lakhs. This may satisfy the curious reader as to the bulk and extent of the Bombay trade fifty years ago, and will enable him to compare such items as exports, imports, bullion, and Council Bills with the gigantic proportions they have now assumed.
The houses of fifty years ago advertised in' the newspapers when they had bills for sale, and from the replies took their cue as to their disposal. Forbes and Remington do not appear much in this way. The following are a few advertisements culled at random : —
" Messrs. Prinsep and Co., Agents of Messrs. Palmer and Co., Calcutta,
will draw upon Messrs. Cockerell, Trail and Co., 6 mos. at Is. 9Jrf. until
further notice. — Bombny, 10th Dec, 1824."
" Fiir sale at the office of William Nicol and Co , Bank of England notes
for £50, £20, £10, and £5 at Rs. 11 per £1."
And again,
" Bills on London,
Boyal Bank of Scotland, on Thomas Coutts imd Co., London, at 30 days'
sight, at Is. 10c?. at Ritchie, Steuart and Co., Irf34, Dec. 6."
"McGregor, Brownrisg and Co. offer their 30 days' sight bills on
Sir Charles Cockerell, Barotiet, at 2s., 1837, Jan. 3."
" Bills on Freilerick Huth and Co. at 60 days' siglit, and in sots to suit
the convenience. Edmond, Bibby and Co., 1^37, Dec. 9."
The business of dealing in English Exchange was not
confined to English Houses. Here are two advertisements : —
" 1828, Aug. 13, £5,000 6 months' Bills en a Letter of Credit from a
house in London of the first respectability offered at Is. 9i(?."
Jehantiier and Nowrojee N'usserwanjee.
1829, Feb. 4, Bills on London, Jehangier and Mowrojee Nusserwanjee
have received from Calcutta a sum in Bills of Exchange on London at six
months which they will dispone of."
-And again,
Jehangier Nusserwanjee Wadia on Baring Brothers six months for sale,
1837, J an. 17."
These two names as we shall see have more than a passing interest for us in 1895. They belong to the Wadia family, and were the names of brothers in business as private bankers, and for some time financial brokers to William Nicol and Co. (1824 to 1842). Nowrojee died in 1827;
Jehangier died in 1849. Nowrojee left one son, Manockji, who was married to the only daughter of
Jehangier. That daughter, widow of Manockji (who died in 1837), still lives among us, venerable and venerated — eighty- three years of age — a veritable lady —
Motlihai — renowned wherever Bombay is spoken of for her deeds of charity and beneficence. Honour to whom honour is due.
" She has a tear for pity and a hand open as day for melting charity."'
Most people imagine that the ancient merchant or private banker of Bombay before the advent of Joint Stock Banks was not troubled much with the exchange question. This is a great fallacy. Between 1817 and 1823 exchange fell from 2s. M. to Is. 8^c?., or over 30 per cent.
Dear money in these years was caused by the army of the Dekhan, which consumed an immense
sum. This was part of the price we paid for our acquisitions.
Again in 1837,
on May 9th, exchange touched 2s. O^d., and on June 15th, or six weeks thereafter, it was Is. M. I think
this beats the record of the last thirty yeais (1865-95) within a similar space of time. The mercantile circulars call the fall 20 per cent., and I am not going to quarrel with their arithmetic.Bad was the best of it, except for the
" Bears,"
if such existed in these prehistoric times, and quite sufficient to turn men's hair gray in a single night. The Chamber had not been in existence for half a dozen years when they were confronted with the exchange question, and the way in which it was affected by the issue of what we call Council Bills to defray the
home charges. So far as any body of men can fix the rate of Died May 25th, 1897 (one of her two sons, Nusserwanjee, died three weeks before her), leaving J^. M. Wadia, Esq., C.I.E., her remaining son, to
inherit her great fortune.
exchange,
the East India Company had that power in the disposal of their drafts on India in London and their purchase of bills in India, and the Chamber justly com- plains that in London, by abrupt leaps and bounds of a
halfpenny and even a penny at a time, they raised the rate from Is. llc^. in March, 1842, to 2s. l^d. in April the same year, being a fluctuation of 10 per cent.
On the 30th January, 1843,
the Chamber sent a memorial to the Board of Control complaining of the evils and grievances to which trade was subjected by the extraordinary fluctuations and uncertainty in the rate of exchange, caused by the mode in which the Court of Directors at present provide themselves with the funds required for the home charges, and pray that the exchange operations between the two countries may be placed on a sound and proper footing, and be conducted on some fixed, just, and well- understood principles. I do not think the Company in Bombay sold many bills on London.Men took home their piles in produce, if they managed to escape the clutches of Augria — often in diamonds.
We are sorry to say anything against this fine old Company.They actually, in 1821, went so far out of their way as to promise to remit the Robert Burns statue fund from Bombay at 2s. Sd. I rather, however, fancy that when the bill was obtained the rate in the open market was 2s. 3d.
No doubt the merchant had compensation in the profit that accrued between the selling and buying rate of bills, and the rates which follow will afford a more pleasant perusal than the shadowy differences of recent times.
Buying Rate.
182fi, July 1 2.S-. Id. to 2s. 2d.
1828, Jan. 1 Is. llt^.
1835, Aug. 1 2s.
1836, Jnn. 23 2s.
„ Dec. 31 2s. Id.
1837, Aug. 19, 30 dys' st., Is. 9K
1839, May 28, 6 mos,, 2s. Ifrf.
The flow of gold and silver into India had not been continuous, and it is observed in 1834, " For the last fifteen years there has been a constant exportation of bullion from India to england going on." The tide is now turned " and exportation ceased, so we may expect a return of the precious metals."
It is now looked upon as a fable that the Bank of Scotland's fine building in Edinburgh was defrayed from these, and there was a feeling of disappointment, when the old Bank of Bombay was wound up, that there was so small an asset from this con- tingency. The period of that Bank was pacific and unlike the old times before it. There was a heavy death-roll all through the eighteenth and the first quarter of the nineteenth century. We do not set great store on these windfalls as an item in the balance sheet of private or public banking, but M'Cluer (1795), the Master Mason, whose funds our Administrator- General may know about, and for which nobody can substantiate a claim, bespeaks an increment which may have been somewhat
substantial. ( Vide article Masonic Legacy.)
Where the Merchants Lived.
Most of them before this time used to live at Mazagon and the Fort. Now they were scattered over the island — John Smith at Love Grove, James Wright at the Dock, Alexr. Hadden at the Mount, Edward Bates at Chinchpoogly (also Sir Henry Eoper, Chief Justice), Robert Strong, Edward Lyon, and Thomas Cardwell at Breach Candy. :-
Two young men, shortly thereafter, David Watson and A. J. Hunter (one became Sheriff and the other Member of Council), had their house in Grant's Buildings, which were new, and a favourite
place in those days.
There was a rush to Malabar Hill,
and
the ground could not be cleared fast enough, for as soon as plots were laid out and houses available, tenants were ready. Here are the upper ten, or avant couriers, in 1845 of all who have since made this pleasant place their habitation
:—
Andrew Cassels, Robert Wigram Crawford, Thomas Lan- caster, Vincent Ashfield King, John Parsons, Alexander Eemington, Archibald Smart, William Scott, J. E. Maclachlan, Mr. Molyneux, to which may be added two or three men of the legal profession
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