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August 1 2011
Thanks to the help of Jimmie Bain this page is dedicated to the
James Finlay Company
to read the relevant story please click heading below
James Finlay -- Up to date
Story of Norman Jackson
Finlay Pensioners Reunion
Guide to James Finlay Company
Finlays Tea Estates Map
June 16 2012
We are indebted to Saroj Mehera for giving this addition about the James Finlay Company and it's current situation
Saroj wrote to the Editor:
I was interested to read Jimmie Bain's article on our former employers, James Finlay. What is not mentioned is that the Indian operations of the Glasgow company became part of Tata-Finlay in 1976/77, a company in which Finlay's held 40% share, Tata's 17% and the balance public. In 1983 (not 1982), Finlay's decided to pull out and virtually gifted their shares to Tata's at par - one of Finlay's many follies by the regime of the time. Tata Tea, as the company became, has gone from strength to strength over the years. Starting with the acquisition of Tetley's, its concentration has moved to marketing and it is now known as Tata Global Beverages. Its tea planting operations in South India have been transferred to the Kanan Devan Co., (an old Finlay company name), largely owned by the employees (unionised and otherwise), the Tata share being 26%. In North India, the Assam and Dooars tea estates have been transferred to Amalgamated Plantations Private Ltd., (APPL), in which the Tata share is currently 76%, the balance being held by employees (non-unionised as the unions opted to stay out) and financial institutions.
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February 2, 2012
Click here to see a story about the late Norman Jackson, an Aberdonian
who arrived in Tea in 1934--and retired in 1966--including his war service
We have to thank Richard Bain for doing the tecnical bit to allow us to show
May 9 2011
The James Finlay Group
Jimmie Bain tells us:
The Finlay pensioner's reunion lunch for ex Scots employees was held on
Friday 6th May in the Merchants Hall, Glasgow. It may be of some
interest to planter friends to see who are still standing !!
Those attending were -----
Jimmie & Muriel Bain,
Bill & Jean Henderson,
Paddy & Alice Lappin,
Lesley & Elsie Lindsay,
Hector & Jean Mackenzie,
Leslie McGregor,
Alaster & Maureen McLean,
Bill & Elisabeth Petrie
John & Susan Radford.
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Guide to James Finlay & Co
Managers and Assistants Letterbooks
About the company's tea estates
In 1750 James Finlay (1727-c1792) established the firm of James Finlay & Co in Glasgow. The company was highly successful, operating in overseas and UK markets and opening textile mills all over the world. Their Indian business connections were strengthened in 1862 when Finlay Clerk & Co was established in Bombay, followed in 1870 with the opening of the Calcutta branch of Finlay Muir & Co as the company was now known.
Around 1882 the firm began to diversify into tea estate management and by 1901
Finlay, Muir & Co was managing extensive tea estates in India and Sri Lanka. The Assam, Sylhet, Cachar, Dooars, Darjeeling and Travancore estate covered over 270,000 acres,77,000 acres of which were planted with tea.
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At this time the firm employed 70,000 native Indians and a large staff of superintendents, managers and assistants from Britain. They were the leading Indian tea suppliers in the UK market with five main subsidiary companies to manage the tea growing interests - Amalagamated Tea Estates Co Ltd, Anglo - Amercian Direct Tea Trading Co, Chubwa Tea Co Ltd, Consolidated Tea and Lands Co and Kenan Devan Hills Produce Co Ltd.
The last tea estates in India were sold to the Tata Tea Co of Bombay in 1982.
The company still trades worldwide in black tea, instant tea and decaffeinated tea
and manages estates in Kenya and Sri Lanka. For further information on Finlays
business today, visit their website at http://www.finlays.net/.
Finlay Tea estates map
Jimmie Bain kindly organised for the map and the website
Here is the link to the map
http://www.amalgamatedplantations.co.in/estate_map.asp
Thanks to Jimmie we also have the web link
web site is www.amalgamatedplantations.co.in
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