ABSTRACT
William keswick was an important figure in Jardine-Matheson’s role in China and Japan, and in the London-based Matheson and Company, from the mid-nineteenth century onwards until his death in 1912, yet he has scarcely received the attention that might have been expected from this long involvement in East Asian trade. He is curiously absent from the current Dictionary of National Biography, though several of his Jardines’ relations are so honoured. His Who was Who entry, based on his own account of himself, is amazingly brief, omitting both his wives, and what many would see as his major role in the China Association, for example, though noting his one-time membership of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. His role as a Conservative MP from 1899 and his appointment as JP and High Sheriff for Surrey receive as much prominence as his work in Asia. His years in Japan, where he established Jardine’s presence immediately after the 1858 treaties allowed foreign residence, go wholly unnoticed.
