Olyphant & Co.

Olyphant & Co. (Chinese: 同孚洋行; pinyin: Tóngfú Yángháng; Jyutping: Tung4fu1 Joeng4hong2)^[1] was an American merchant trading house or hong in 19th-century China. From its initial involvement in the "Old China Trade", the firm expanded into other countries including Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Olyphant & Co's business dealings in Peru caused the company to collapse in 1878.

History

The firm was founded in Guangzhou (Canton) by David Olyphant and Charles N. Talbot, after their former employer, King & Talbot went bankrupt.^[2] In Guangzhou, the two partners established themselves as supercargoes trading in "silk, mattings and fancy articles",^[3] operating from the No. 1 building of the American factory.^[4] Olyphant was a vociferous opponent of the opium trade, and the firm was one of the only large foreign trading firms not to engage in opium smuggling.^[5] The firm's anti-opium stance led to its offices becoming known as "Zion's Corner".^[6] Over the next 30 years, the company continued to grow in competition with other traders including Augustine Heard and Company, Russell & Company and Wetmore & Co., opening offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Fuzhou and overseas in Australia and New Zealand.^[3]

Morrison Incident

In 1837, Olyphant & Co's ship Morrison made an attempt to repatriate seven shipwrecked Japanese sailors and at the same time open trade with Japan. The crew's efforts were thwarted after the Japanese opened fire and the ship was forced to retreat.^[7]

Railways

After David Olyphant's son Robert Morrison Olyphant reorganized the firm in 1858,^[8] in the 1870s, partner Augustus Allen Hayes helped revive proposals for the Woosung Road Railway between Woosung (now known as Wusong) and Shanghai's Zhabei District in conjunction with Jardine Matheson and Augustine Heard and Company.^[9]

Clipper ships

Olyphant and Co. owned and operated the following clippers for the transport of tea and silk from China to the US:^[2]

• William E. Roman (1850)
• Wild Pigeon (1851)
• Tinqua (1851)
• Wild Duck (1852)

Collapse

In the mid 1870s, the firm reduced their interest in Chinese products and instead turned to the sodium nitrate business in conjunction with the government of Peru. As an extension to these dealings with Peru's rulers, Olyphant & Co. agreed to import coolie laborers by steamer from China. However, the firm proved unable to procure the requisite human cargoes, allegedly as a result of jealously on the part of their competition with support from the British government.^[3] To the surprise of the mercantile community, the subsequent losses incurred caused Olyphant & Co. to cease trading in late 1878 while owing money to creditors including Drexel, Morgan & Co. and the government of Peru.^[3]

See also

• Companies portal

• Canton System
• List of trading companies

References

1. "China Directory 1862" (PDF). Hong Kong: A. Shortrede & Co. 1862. p. 41. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
2. Glenn A. Knoblock (15 January 2014). The American Clipper Ship, 1845-1920: A Comprehensive History, with a Listing of Builders and Their Ships. McFarland. p. 169. ISBN 978-1-4766-0284-4.
3. "Olyphant & Co's Failure" (PDF). The New York Times. December 9, 1878. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
4. Fay, Peter Ward (1998). Opium War, 1840-1842: Barbarians in the Celestial Empire in the Early Part of the Nineteenth Century and the War by which They Forced Her Gates Ajar: Barbarians in the Celestial Empire in the Early Part of the Nineteenth Century and the War by Which They Forced Her Gates Ajar. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-6136-3.
5. Scott, Gregory Adam; Kamsler, Brigette C. (February 2014). "Missionary Research Library Archives: D.W.C. Olyphant Papers, 1827–1851" (PDF). Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
6. Denise Austin (23 September 2011). "Kingdom-Minded" People: Christian Identity and the Contributions of Chinese Business Christians. BRILL. p. 30. ISBN 90-04-20402-4.
7. Shavit 1990, p. 354.
8. Shavit 1990, p. 374.
9. Ole Lange (2006). Stormogulen: C.F. Tietgen - en finansmand, hans imperium og hans tid 1829-1901 (in Danish). Gyldendal A/S. p. 345. ISBN 978-87-02-05278-7.

Bibliography

• Shavit, David (1990). The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-26788-8.