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Keeping It in the Family: The Swedish East India Company and the Irvine Family, 1731-1770

Authors :
Hodacs, Hanna
Source :
Journal of World History. September, 2020, Vol. 31 Issue 3, p567, 29 p.
Publication Year :
2020

Abstract

This article traces Charles Irvine's and his extended family's engagement with the Swedish East India Company between 1731 and 1770. It shows how changing international and domestic conditions influenced the opportunities British subjects had to cross company lines and national borders and engage in different parts of the Asian trade. Considering the context of the family structure, the article also discusses how immediate and future family interests shaped the agents' interactions with Asian markets. Covering a period of nearly forty years, the article brings to the fore how adaptable the family was to changing circumstances; its members positioned themselves inside and outside the company in ways that allowed them to maximize profits and minimize risks. The results of the study point to the need to consider the mutual dependency that existed between charted companies and flexible families in East Indian trade. Keywords: East India trade, interloper, Eighteenth-century, family, social reproduction.<br />IN THE summer of 1757, Charles Irvine, a Scottish-born former supercargo of the Swedish East India Company (SEIC), paid 8,000 dollars copper money (daler kopparmynt) to have his nephew Thomas [...]

Subjects

Subjects :
Family
Domestic relations
History

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
10456007
Volume :
31
Issue :
3
Database :
Gale General OneFile
Journal :
Journal of World History
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsgcl.632754062