Richard and William King facts for kids

Richard and William King Ltd was an English company started by two brothers, William and Richard King, in Bristol, England. Before this, the brothers worked with their father, Thomas King. Their first business together bought a 158-ton ship called John Cabot for trading. However, this ship had too many leaks and was left behind in Freetown.

Starting the Company

Around 1833, Thomas King decided to leave the family business. This is when his sons, William and Richard, formed their own company, William and Richard King Ltd. While their father had traded in America and Europe, the brothers focused mostly on the coast of West Africa.

Their company quickly gained experience trading between Bristol and West Africa. By 1840, it had grown quite a bit, owning 8 ships! When Thomas King passed away in 1841, the brothers bought a new ship. They named it the African Queen. Within a year, the African Queen made its first trip. It returned with valuable goods like elephant tusks, palm oil, and coconuts. In exchange, they had traded items called manillas, which were like bracelets used as money.

Trading in West Africa

The King brothers first focused their trade along the coast of Côte d'Ivoire. This area was different from the Niger Delta, where bigger companies from Liverpool usually traded. The Niger Delta had lots of palm oil, but it was more expensive.

In the early 1840s, the company started to expand further east. They moved towards Gabon, the Bight of Biafra, and Dahomey. They even set up a trading post along the Cameroon River. To keep good relationships with some African chiefs, they gave them special gifts. These included a large umbrella and a fancy dressing case filled with cosmetics.

While Richard and William King Ltd was not the biggest European trading company in these areas, it had an important trading post on the Cameroon River. They were well-known in the region.

Trading Methods

The company used a special trading method called the 'coasting' system. Unlike other companies whose ships stayed in one place for months, William and King's ships would sail along the coast of West Africa. They would stop often to give out 'trust' (credit), manillas, or other items used for trade. Then, after traveling along the coast, they would return to collect the goods they had traded for. This method also helped them spread out their risks.

By the 1850s, the company was a major player in the British palm oil market, handling 12% of it! Being based in Bristol also helped them succeed. They were the top palm oil merchants in Bristol and had an advantage over rivals in nearby areas like South Wales, the Midlands, and Birmingham. Bristol was also great for them because it produced many goods like clothes and gunpowder, which were then exported to West Africa.

Challenges and Changes

However, by the 1860s, the palm oil business became less profitable. New types of oils were found in America, and prices started to drop. Also, new steamships began offering shipping services. Before, traders owned both the ships and the goods they carried. But steamships changed this, making trade cheaper and allowing smaller traders to enter the market.

By the 1880s, William King's son, Mervyn King, was in charge of the company. It had grown into a major British firm that could handle big changes, like the division of Africa by European powers and tough economic times.

In 1889, their business in the Niger Delta joined with other traders to form a new company called the African Association Ltd. Later, in the 1920s, the rest of Richard and William King Ltd was bought by another large company, Lever Brothers.

The King Brothers

Richard King was an important person in Bristol. In 1835, he became a Councillor for Redcliffe. Later, in 1845, he became the Mayor of Bristol, just like his great-grandfather, John King, had been before him.

Richard King was very interested in the docks (ports) of Bristol. He led a campaign to have the Bristol council take over running the docks from a group called the Merchant Venturers. After the council successfully took over in 1848, Richard King became the chairman of the docks committee. In 1851, he also became a leader in the Society of Merchant Venturers.