INTERNATIONAL SHIPBROKERSSINCE 1847

THE HISTORY OF

GALBRAITH’S

GGALBRAITH’S

INTRODUCTION

The area of London where Galbraith’s offices are located has a rich history and has long been synonymous with trading. As far back as 1014, and probably much earlier, London Bridge

attracted traders selling grain, fish, vegetables and livestock. In the 13th century traders were relocated to what is now Borough High Street and a market has existed there ever since. The present day Borough Market is renownded world wide and attracts people from all over the world. The area is also the location for the Shard, Europe’s tallest iconic building.

Based in this vibrant region combining the old and new, Galbraith’s London Head Office continues its history that started over 150 years ago.

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GGALBRAITH’S INTERNATIONAL SHIPBROKERS SINCE 1847

OUR BEGINNINGS

In 1847 a young ship’s master, William Schaw Lindsay, from Ayrshire, Scotland, together with his brother-in-law, Angus

Stewart, a Glasgow iron merchant, established themselves as Shipbrokers and Commission Agents at 11, Abchurch Lane in the City of London. Later new premises were acquired at 8, Austin Friars, which were to be occupied by the partnership for a prolonged period. In 1852 insurance-broking at Lloyds was added to their activities, to which shipowning was joined in the early 1860’s when the “Austin Friars”, an iron framed steam screwship of 1,036 GRT was acquired.

The Shipbroking and Agency business expanded dramatically when James Galbraith in 1869 became Senior Partner. Together with another Glasgow shipowner, James Robert

Henderson, he initiated the refrigerated cargo trade with New Zealand under the name of the Albion Line which he subsequently sold to Shaw Savill in 1882. James Galbraith also formed the famous Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and the British & Burmese Steam Navigation Company, which opened up the inland trade within Burma and overseas. When he died in 1885 he was regarded by his contemporaries as “...one of the great British Shipowners of the 19th Century...”

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The company built vessels for its own account for the first time in 1877 and in the same year changed its name to Galbraith Pembroke and Co. New vessels were to include the world’s second

only steam tanker the s.s. “Darial” which was built in the yard of Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth & Co. in 1886. This historic vessel was sold to the Anglo-American Oil Company (ESSO) and was eventually sold for demolition in 1924. Eventually by 1898 Galbraith’s five shipowning companies were brought together into a newly formed holdings company, Austin Friars Steam Shipping Co. Ltd., which remained closely related to the fortunes of Galbraith’s up to 1952, when the last vessel was sold.

The company continued to grow, however, largely on the strength of its shipbroking business and when in 1968, Galbraith Pembroke and Co, became part of the Matthews Wrightson Group, which itself (Matthews Wrightson Burbidge Ltd) had been heavily involved in acting as shipbrokers and chartering agents since 1901, it was the start of a major new force in international shipbroking.

For three years Galbraith’s became a member of the Samuel Montagu Group but the decision was taken in 1987 by Midland Montagu to concentrate on their role as the merchant banking arm of Midland Bank and divest themselves of subsidiary activities. This created the opportunity for the senior management and staff of Galbraith’s Limited to make a successful bid for the subsidiary companies of Galbraith Montagu Holdings Limited. The bid was won against competition from some twenty outside parties and it is a measure of the management’s confidence in the future of Galbraith’s that the terms and conditions they were prepared to offer were sufficient to defeat a number of major shipping interests in competition.

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GALBRAITH’S TODAY

Galbraith’s shareholders today comprise the Directors and staff of the company.

Our company employs seventy people servicing the shipping industry through three major departments; Dry Cargo, Tanker Chartering and Sale and Purchase.

The name of Galbraith’s today perpetuates the tradition of personal service and reliability, the foundations of which have been firmly established over the past 150 years.

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