John Swire

John Samuel Swire (24 December 1825 – 1 December 1898) was a British businessman. He grew his family business, the Swire Group, and expanded the cotton and sugar trade with China. He established the Taikoo Sugar Refinery in Hong Kong and The China Navigation Company on the Yangtze river. He was the instigator and founding chairman of the China and Japan Conference (later known as the Far Eastern Freight Conference). This shipping cartel existed from 1879 to 2008 and was a major component of the shipping industry from the Far East to Europe.

Early life John Samuel Swire was born on 24 December 1825 in Liverpool, England. His father, John Swire, was the founder of the Swire Group.

Career Swire established Swire Bros in Melbourne, Australia in 1855.

Personal life He was married twice. He first married Abigail Fairrie, the daughter of Adam Fairrie, a sugar refiner from Ayrshire, in 1859.

John Samuel