Russell & Company
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Russell & Company was the largest American trading house of the 19th century in China. It specialised in the trade of tea, silk, and opium, and was later involved in the maritime transport.
Canton headquarters, c. 1880
Robert Bennet Forbes
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Robert Bennet Forbes, was an American sea captain, China merchant and ship owner. He was active in ship construction, maritime safety, the opium trade, and charitable activities, including food aid to
Russell & Company
…Green announcing his retirement in 1838 and the expiration of their partnership in the beginning of 1840, John Forbes formed a new partnership with Robert B. Forbes and Warren Delano Jr. in 1839. In 1842, John Forbes made an attempt to hire his cousin Paul S. Forbes, a decision that was vetoed by the other partners…
Opium ships at Lintin, 1824
The bark Canton Packet, built for J. & T. H. Perkins of Boston
Fragment of brick from the Great Wall of China, collected in 1850 by Peter Cracroft, captain of HMS Reynard, and presented to the East India Marine Society in Salem, Massachusetts, by Robert Forbes in 1852