Balfour Williamson

Balfour, Williamson & Co Limited
Company typePrivate

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).[1] 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, Scotland, Alexander Balfour 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.[2]

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.[3]

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, where it still lies.[4] 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[5]

The company's archives were deposited with University College London between 1977 and 1979.[6] The collection includes correspondence, legal and financial records, histories, and photographs.[6]

  1. ^ Competition Commission report (1981): The Observer and George Outram and Company para 4.15
  2. ^ "Methil Heritage website". Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  3. ^ Fischer, S.R. (2005) Island at the Edge of the World ISBN 1-86189-282-9 p.157
  4. ^ "Methil heritage website". Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  5. ^ Bulletin of The Liverpool Nautical Research Society vol 53 25.28
  6. ^ a b UCL Special Collections. "Balfour Williamson and Company Archive". UCL Archives Catalogue. Retrieved 25 June 2024.