Guthrie & Co.

Guthrie & Co.

Guthrie & Co. is a protected cultural heritage site of Tianjin Municipality.

Guthrie & Co. was established in Shanghai on the eve of the Opium War. After the opening of Tianjin as a treaty port, it set up a branch in Tianjin, located on Riverbank Road (now Taierzhuang Road) in the British Concession, and was managed by William Forbes and others.

During the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, the firm was damaged. Later, under the Boxer Protocol, it received a sum of compensation, which it used to build a new office at 45 Middle Street in the British Concession (now 129–135 Jiefang North Road). Its English name was also changed from Glbb. Livingston & Co. to William Forbes & Co., but its Chinese name remained unchanged. The firm’s business scope was extremely broad, importing goods such as ships, trains, and waste paper, and exporting goods including antiques, jade artifacts, waste wool, and hair. It also handled various commission businesses, as well as insurance, land and sea transportation, and the recruitment of Chinese laborers, from which it collected commissions. Guthrie & Co. Tianjin maintained branches or agencies in the UK, the US, and other countries, and also had branches in Beijing, Fengtian (Shenyang), Hailar, Hankou, Shanghai, Ningxia, and Baotou in China. Among them, the Ningxia branch was the largest, specializing in the purchase of Xining wool, while the Baotou branch purchased camel hair and wool, and the Fengtian agency handled dog skin procurement. The agency or commission services it provided included: selling Henan coke on behalf of the Pekin Syndicate; managing waterworks projects for British businesses in Tianjin; procuring locomotives, carriages, and spare parts for the Jingfeng Railway Bureau; arranging maritime shipping with companies such as the French Messageries Maritimes and the Eastern & Australian Steamship Company; handling insurance for companies like the Palatine Fire Insurance Company, the Hongkong Life Insurance Company, and the Ocean Marine Insurance Company; serving as the Tianjin agent for Röder Notary; and also recruiting Chinese laborers.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Tianjin Cultural Heritage Protection Units