Ewen Cameron (banker)
Encyclopedia
Sir Ewen Cameron, KCMG
(23 June 1841 – 10 December 1908) was a Scottish
accountant and banker who rose to be London head of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
, he was the eldest of the offspring of Sir William Cameron
, of Upper Muckovie, near Culloden (b. Abertarff, Croy and Dalcross, Inverness-shire, 4 February 1806) and wife (m. Glenmoriston
, Inverness-shire, 16 June 1840) Catherine Cameron (b. Tomchrasky
, Inverness-shire, 22 January 1809), daughter of Ewen Cameron, a farmer
of Tomchrasky
, Glen Moriston (Dores
, Inveness-shire, 1775 - Tomchrasky, Invernessshire, 17 February 1842) and Helen McDonnell
(1776 - Tomchrasky, Inverness-shire, 18 April 1861).
, China
, and Japan
which transferred him to its Hong Kong
branch in 1866. His abilities, described as "remarkable" by The Times
helped him to land a position with the newly formed Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation bank after the Bank of Hindustan went into liquidation. Serving first as accountant, he then became the agent of the Calcutta branch, subsequently becoming manager of the Shanghai
branch, in which position he served until 1890 when he became head of the company's London office. He was knighted in 1901.
During 1904 Cameron was involved with other leading London financiers including John Baring (2nd Baron Revelstoke
) of Baring Bros.
, Arthur Francis Levita and W.M. Koch of Panmure Gordon
(Levita's daughter Enid would later marry Cameron's grandson Ewen Donald Cameron in 1930), Sir Marcus Samuel
of Samuel Samuel & Co
, Carl Meyer
and Otto Kahn in negotiations with the Japanese central banker and later Prime Minister
Takahashi Korekiyo
in the selling of war bonds to finance Japanese defense during the Russo-Japanese war
.
, in 1857, daughter of John Houchen of Thetford
, Norfolk
(Wereham
, Norfolk, c. 1818 - Thetford, Norfolk, 6 October 1898) and wife (m. St James's, Westminster
, 29 November 1845) Susannah Vautier (Stanton
, Suffolk
, c. 1819 - Thetford, Norfolk, 1859), by whom he had five children. His eldest son, Ewen Allan Cameron, senior partner in Panmure Gordon & Co. and member of the Council of Foreign Bondholders (who died 14 November 1937 in Vienna) was the great grandfather of the Conservative party
leader David Cameron
, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
in 2010..
, on 10 December 1908 aged 67.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(23 June 1841 – 10 December 1908) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
accountant and banker who rose to be London head of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
Early life and family
Born in Inverness-shireInverness-shire
The County of Inverness or Inverness-shire was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland...
, he was the eldest of the offspring of Sir William Cameron
Clan Cameron
Clan Cameron is a West Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch Lochiel, and numerous cadet branches. The Clan Cameron lands are in Lochaber and within their lands is the mountain Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the British Isles. The chief of the clan is customarily referred to as...
, of Upper Muckovie, near Culloden (b. Abertarff, Croy and Dalcross, Inverness-shire, 4 February 1806) and wife (m. Glenmoriston
Glenmoriston
Glenmoriston or Glen Moriston is a river glen in the Scottish Highlands, that runs from Loch Ness, at the village of Invermoriston, westwards to Loch Cluanie, where it meets with Glen Shiel. The A887 and A87 roads pass through Glenmoriston....
, Inverness-shire, 16 June 1840) Catherine Cameron (b. Tomchrasky
Tomchrasky
Tomchrasky is a village in Glen Moriston, in Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. The village lies on the north banks of the River Moriston. The village of Dalchreichart lies 2 miles to the east of Tomchrasky....
, Inverness-shire, 22 January 1809), daughter of Ewen Cameron, a farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
of Tomchrasky
Tomchrasky
Tomchrasky is a village in Glen Moriston, in Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. The village lies on the north banks of the River Moriston. The village of Dalchreichart lies 2 miles to the east of Tomchrasky....
, Glen Moriston (Dores
Dores
Dores is a village located on the south shore of Loch Ness, 10 km south west of the city of Inverness, in the Highland council area of Scotland.The annual RockNess music festival takes place in fields to the north of the village....
, Inveness-shire, 1775 - Tomchrasky, Invernessshire, 17 February 1842) and Helen McDonnell
Clan Donald
Clan Donald is one of the largest Scottish clans. There are numerous branches to the clan. Several of these have chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, and Clan...
(1776 - Tomchrasky, Inverness-shire, 18 April 1861).
Career
He joined the Caledonian Bank in 1859 and subsequently the Bank of HindustanHindustan
Hindustan or Indostan, literal translation "Land of River Sindhu ", is one of the popular names of South Asia. It can also mean "the land of the Hindus"...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
which transferred him to its Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
branch in 1866. His abilities, described as "remarkable" by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
helped him to land a position with the newly formed Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation bank after the Bank of Hindustan went into liquidation. Serving first as accountant, he then became the agent of the Calcutta branch, subsequently becoming manager of the Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
branch, in which position he served until 1890 when he became head of the company's London office. He was knighted in 1901.
During 1904 Cameron was involved with other leading London financiers including John Baring (2nd Baron Revelstoke
Baron Revelstoke
Baron Revelstoke, of Membland in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for the businessman Edward Baring, head of the family firm of Barings Bank...
) of Baring Bros.
Barings Bank
Barings Bank was the oldest merchant bank in London until its collapse in 1995 after one of the bank's employees, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million due to speculative investing, primarily in futures contracts, at the bank's Singapore office.-History:-1762–1890:Barings Bank was founded in 1762 as the...
, Arthur Francis Levita and W.M. Koch of Panmure Gordon
Panmure Gordon
Panmure Gordon & Co. is a British corporate and institutional stockbroker and investment bank. The firm operates in three businesses: investment banking, research and institutional sales and trading...
(Levita's daughter Enid would later marry Cameron's grandson Ewen Donald Cameron in 1930), Sir Marcus Samuel
Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted
Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted JP , known as Sir Marcus Samuel, 1st Baronet between 1903 and 1921 and subsequently as The Lord Bearsted until 1925, was the founder of the Shell Transport and Trading Company, a precursor to Royal Dutch Shell.-Career:Samuel was born into a Jewish family in...
of Samuel Samuel & Co
Samuel Samuel & Co
Samuel Samuel & Co, was founded in Yokohama, Japan, by Samuel Samuel in partnership with his elder brother Marcus Samuel, creator of the Shell Transport and Trading company...
, Carl Meyer
Carl Meyer
Sir Carl Ferdinand Meyer, 1st Baronet was a British banker and mining magnate.-Personal life:Meyer was born in Hamburg, Germany, the second son of Siegmund Meyer and Elise Rosa Hahn daughter of Reuben Hahn. He became a naturalised British subject in 1877...
and Otto Kahn in negotiations with the Japanese central banker and later Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Takahashi Korekiyo
Takahashi Korekiyo
Viscount was a Japanese politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Japan from 13 November 1921 to 12 June 1922. He was known as an expert on finance during his political career.-Early life :...
in the selling of war bonds to finance Japanese defense during the Russo-Japanese war
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
.
Marriage and issue
He married in Norfolk in 1878 Josephine Elizabeth Houchen, born in Shotford, NorfolkNorfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, in 1857, daughter of John Houchen of Thetford
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
(Wereham
Wereham
Wereham is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.-Location:Wereham lies in the Wissey valley and is on the main A134 road; it is some five miles to the east of the town of Downham Market and thirteen miles from King's Lynn...
, Norfolk, c. 1818 - Thetford, Norfolk, 6 October 1898) and wife (m. St James's, Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, 29 November 1845) Susannah Vautier (Stanton
Stanton, Suffolk
Stanton is village situated in north Suffolk, about nine miles north-east of Bury St. Edmunds, on the A143 road to Diss. Close to the village lies the former WW II airfield RAF Shepherds Grove, where American forces were based. One of the main landmarks in the village is the fine restored windmill...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, c. 1819 - Thetford, Norfolk, 1859), by whom he had five children. His eldest son, Ewen Allan Cameron, senior partner in Panmure Gordon & Co. and member of the Council of Foreign Bondholders (who died 14 November 1937 in Vienna) was the great grandfather of the Conservative party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leader David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
in 2010..
Death
After suffering bouts of ill health in 1903 and at the end of 1904, Cameron retired in February 1905 and died at 41 Mansfield Gardens, LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, on 10 December 1908 aged 67.