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{{Infobox company
| name = Apcar and Company
| logo =
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| image =
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| trading_name = 
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = 
| romanized =
| former type =
| type =
| traded_as =
| industry = Shipping
| genre = 
| fate = Purchased by the [[British-India Steam Navigation Company]]
| predecessor =
| successor =
| foundation = Bombay, India ({{Start date|1819}})
| founder = [[Arratoon Apcar]]
| defunct = {{End date|1912|01|27}}
| location_city = [[Calcutta]]
| location_country = India
| locations = 
| area_served = India, Southeast Asia, Far Easy
| key_people =
| products =
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}}
'''Apcar and Company''' was a firm founded in 1819 in [[India]] that engaged in shipping, import and export.
The most profitable trade was in opium, shipped from India to [[Hong Kong]] and the [[Pearl River (China)|Pearl River]].
The Apcar Line also carried Indian and Chinese laborers for work in [[British Malaya|Malaya]] and [[Singapore]].
The line was sold to the [[British-India Steam Navigation Company]] in 1912.

==Origins==

Arratoon Apcar was an ethnic [[Armenia]]n born in 1779 at [[New Julfa]] in [[Isfahan]], Persia.
He was the second son of Apcar, the ancestor of the family.
He came to [[Bombay]] when he was sixteen and found employment with an Armenian merchant there, trading with [[China]] and [[Manila]].
After his patron died, he continued in this trade in his own right.{{sfn|Seth|1937|p=126}}
His brother Gregory Apcar came to India in 1808 and joined Arratoon in Bombay.{{sfn|Seth|1937|p=530}}
The trading company of Apcar & Co. was founded in 1819 by Arratoon Apcar.{{sfn|Diana A. Apcar...}}

==Growth==

Arratoon Apcar moved his company to Calcutta around the end of 1830.{{sfn|Seth|1937|p=301}}
In Calcutta the company moved into shipping, carrying both passengers and freight. The most profitable cargo was [[opium]].{{sfn|Wright|2002}}
Until [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O]] began shipping opium from Calcutta in 1851, the trade was divided between [[Jardine Skinner]] and the Apcar Line. Even then, P&O had limited shipping capacity.{{sfn|Harcourt|2006|p=103}}
While Jardines carried opium for the larger suppliers, the Apcars with their ''Arratoon Apcar'' and ''Catherine Apcar'' sailing boats catered to many smaller local dealers. With slower boats, they charged much lower rates than Jardine Skinner, ranging from Rs8 to Rs10 per chest compared to upward of Rs28 per chest charged by Jardine Skinner. However, the Apcars may have had private arrangements with the dealers that locked them into using Apcar services.{{sfn|Harcourt|2006|p=104}}

The Apcar Line's fleet became well-respected, efficiently carrying both cargo and Chinese coolies, mostly between [[Singapore]], [[Hong Kong]] and [[Amoy]], but also making regular voyages to [[Japan]].{{sfn|Blake|1956}}
From 1855 Apcar & Co. started to convert their fleet to steam.{{sfn|Harcourt|2006|p=104}}
The Apcar Line was providing regular service to Singapore from 1856.{{sfn|Campo|2002|p=44}}
The Apcar clippers dominated the opium trade until the 1870s, carrying their cargoes from Bombay or Calcutta, with a stop in Singapore, on to Hong Kong or the Canton River.
43 voyages of opium ships to China were listed in 1865, of which 17 were Apcar ships.{{sfn|Wright|2002}}
The Apcars and Jardine Skinner exported opium to Singapore for use by the Chinese in the [[Malay Peninsula]] or for distribution to other locations in [[southeast Asia]].{{sfn|Munro|2003|p=58}}
Eventually the Apcars were forced out of the [[Dutch East Indies]] by protectionist measures.{{sfn|Blumi|2013|p=107}}
Between 1875 and 1880 Captain [[Chapman James Clare]] (1853-1940) served on Apcar & Co. opium steamers trading between Hong Kong and Calcutta.{{sfn|Zwillenberg|1981}}

In the 1880s the Apcar Line was sailing monthly from Calcutta to Hong Kong via [[Penang]] and Singapore.{{sfn|Wright|2002}}
On 22 May 1888 the steamship ''Arratoon Apcar'' collided with the steamship ''Hebe'' in the [[Strait of Malacca]], with both ships suffering considerable damage.{{sfn|The Arratoon Apcar 1890|p=481}}
Both vessels were held to have been at fault.{{sfn|The Arratoon Apcar 1890|p=482}}
In 1901 the firm of [[David Sassoon, Sons & Co.]] were still the agents in Hong Kong of the Apcar Line.{{sfn|Hamashita|2013|p=194}}
They maintained this agency after the purchase of the Apcar Line by the British India Steam Navigation Company.{{sfn|Faure|1997|p=125}}

==Family interests==

In 1843 Arratoon Apcar founded the Armenian Patriotic School in his home town of [[New Julfa]] in [[Isfahan]], Persia.
The school was entirely funded by Apcar & Co.{{sfn|Seth|1937|p=529}}
The Apcars also owned collieries.{{sfn|Seth|1937|p=301}}
[[Sitarampur]] Colliery was opened by Apcar & Company around 1846.{{sfn|Chakrabarti|1989|p=3}}
In 1865 Apcar was working a seam of coal {{convert|13|ft}} deep near [[Charanpur]].{{sfn|Geological Survey|1865|p=104}}
They had another mine at Sitarampur, a seam said to be {{convert|12|ft}} deep and excellent in quality.{{sfn|Geological Survey|1865|p=111}}

Gregory Apcar worked for Apcar & Co. until his death on 23 June 1847 at the age of 52.{{sfn|Seth|1937|p=530}}
Arratoon Apcar died on 16 May 1863 at the age of 85.{{sfn|Seth|1937|p=529}}
[[Apcar Alexander Apcar]] (1850-1913), grandson of Arratoon Apcar, became head of the family firm after the death of his three elder brothers, Apcar, Seth and Thomas.{{sfn|Seth|2004|p=127}}
He continued the family trading business, living at their home in Russell Street, where he entertained many people.{{sfn|Late Sir A. A. Apcar: Straits Times}}
He was vice-president of the [[Bengal Chamber of Commerce]] in 1903, and its president from 1904 to 1907.
He represented the Chamber of Commerce in the [[Viceregal Legislative Council]] from 1900 to 1909, in the Bengal Legislative Council and in the Port Trust.
In 1903 he was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Star of India|C.S.I.]], and later that year was knighted at a Royal Durbar in [[Delhi]].{{sfn|Obituary Sir A.A. Apcar: The Times}}

On 27 February 1912 Apcar & Co, ships, workshops and mines, were sold to the [[British-India Steam Navigation Company]] for Rs 800,000.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}}

==Fleet==
[[File:S.S. Catherine Apcar c. 1900.jpg|thumb|S.S. Catherine Apcar (1893)]]
The ''Arratoon Apcar'', a 275-ton brig, began making regular voyages in the mid-1840s between Calcutta, [[Penang]], [[Singapore]] and [[China]], taking about two months each way.
After a few years the company added the ''Ararat'' and the 400-ton ''Catherine Apcar'', which was named after the wife of Arratoon Apcar.{{sfn|Wright|2002}}
In 1846 Apcar and Company had three of the eleven tugs operating at Calcutta, one of 120{{space}}hp and two of 150{{space}}hp.{{sfn|Kling|1976|p=129}}
The first steam clippers added to the fleet were the 315-ton (673{{space}}grt) ''Lightning'' in 1855 and 593-ton (947{{space}}grt) ''Thunder''.{{sfn|Harcourt|2006|p=104}}
These were followed by the 938-ton ''Arratoon Apcar'' and the ''Armenia'' in 1858.
In 1861 the 204-ton ''Thunder'', a screw-driven steam ship, made the journey from Hong Kong to Singapore in just five days.{{sfn|Wright|2002}}
A great cyclone hit Calcutta on 4 October 1864.{{sfn|Massey|1918|p=29}}
It caused great damage to the shipping in the harbor. Apcar & Co.'s ''Thunder'' was driven onto the Strand at the foot of Hastings Street.{{sfn|Massey|1918|p=34}}

''[[SS Arratoon Apcar]]'' was an iron-hulled steamship with a 1,480 ton displacement built in Renfrew, Scotland, 1861. She was sold in 1872 to H.F. Swan Company.{{sfn|Arratoon Apcar: NPS}}
[[File:To Alexander A Apcar Esq this plate of his magnificent Passenger Steamers Hindostan and China - (is dedicated) RMG PY9125.jpg|thumb|Passenger Steamers ''Hindostan'' and ''China'', by [[Thomas Goldsworthy Dutton]]]]
The 1019-ton steam ship ''Catherine Apcar'' was built in 1865,
and soon after the 1476-ton ''Hindustan'' and 1471-ton ''China'' were added.
The ''Japan'' was commissioned in 1872. In 1873 the 2153-ton ''Arratoon Apcar'' was built.
In 1891 the Apcar Line acquired the new 3,250-ton steam ship ''Lightning''. Cabin passengers were accommodated in the poop.
The ship carried Indian and Chinese laborers to Singapore and Penang as deck passengers.
In July 1893 the ''Japan'' was retired, replaced by the 2,715-ton ''Catherine Apcar''.{{sfn|Wright|2002}}

The ''Hyson'' passenger/cargo liner, built in [[Belfast]] and launched in 1895, was purchased by the Apcars and renamed ''Arratoon Apcar'' in 1899. She was taken over by the [[British-India Steam Navigation Company]] in 1912 when they purchased the Apcar Line, retaining her name. Eventually she was demolished in 1932.{{sfn|Arratoon Apcar (1896): P&O Heritage}}
The 4,563-ton ''Gregory Apcar'' joined the fleet in 1902, and the new ''Japan'' in 1906.{{sfn|Wright|2002}}
Until well into the 20th century the ships had to be prepared for attack by Chinese pirates, and were armed and sandbagged for defense.{{sfn|Blake|1956}}

==References==
'''Citations'''
{{reflist |colwidth=30em}}
'''Sources'''
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite web|ref={{harvid|Arratoon Apcar (1896): P&O Heritage}}|url=http://www.poheritage.com/Content/Mimsy/Media/factsheet/92702ARRATOON-APCAR-1896pdf.pdf|title=Arratoon Apcar (1896)|work=P&O Heritage|date=November 2008|access-date=2013-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105224357/http://www.poheritage.com/Content/Mimsy/Media/factsheet/92702ARRATOON-APCAR-1896pdf.pdf|archive-date=2013-11-05|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite web|ref={{harvid|Arratoon Apcar: NPS}}|url=http://www.nps.gov/bisc/historyculture/arratoon-apcar.htm
|title=Arratoon Apcar|access-date=2013-11-04|publisher=National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior}}
*{{cite book |url=http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/2002-07/1025576252
|last=Blake|first=George|author-link=George Blake (novelist)|title=B.I. Centenary - 1856 : 1956) |year=1956|access-date=2013-11-05}}
*{{cite book|last=Blumi|first=Isa|title=Ottoman Refugees, 1878-1939: Migration in a Post-Imperial World
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTKaAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA107|access-date=2013-11-05
|date=2013-09-12|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4725-1538-4}}
*{{cite book|last=Campo|first=Joseph Norbert Frans Marie à|title=Engines of Empire: Steamshipping and State Formation in Colonial Indonesia
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q8ZhE4Hk8RoC&pg=PA44|access-date=2013-11-05
|year=2002|publisher=Uitgeverij Verloren|isbn=978-90-6550-738-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Chakrabarti|first=Prabhas Kumar|title=Coal Industry in West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=714a_MFO4ksC&pg=PA3|access-date=2013-11-05
|date=1989-01-01|publisher=Northern Book Centre|isbn=978-81-85119-61-8}}
*{{cite web|ref={{harvid|Diana A. Apcar...}}|url=http://www.armenianculturalfoundation.org/default.aspx?view=article&id=54
|title=Diana A. Apcar (1869-1937): The First Armenian Woman Diplomat|publisher=Armenian Cultural Foundation|access-date=2014-11-05}}
*{{cite book|last=Faure|first=David|title=Society: A Documentary History of Hong Kong|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ytg98pAFdk4C&pg=PA125|access-date=2013-11-05
|date=1997-09-01|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|isbn=978-962-209-393-5}}
*{{cite book|author=Geological Survey|title=Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVBSQ3XkBesC&pg=PA104|access-date=2013-11-05
|year=1865|publisher=Governor-General of India.}}
*{{cite book|last=Hamashita|first=Takeshi|title=China, East Asia and the Global Economy: Regional and Historical Perspectives
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ShtEMHTlQbQC&pg=RA1-PT194|access-date=2013-11-05
|date=2013-05-13|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-04028-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Harcourt|first=Freda|title=Flagships of Imperialism: The P & O Company and the Politics of Empire from Its Origins to 1867
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HmMLqQXmIkMC&pg=PA103|access-date=2013-11-05
|date=2006-09-05|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-1-84779-145-0}}
*{{cite book|last=Kling|first=Blair B.|title=Partner in Empire: Dwarkanath Tagore and the Age of Enterprise in Eastern India
|url=https://archive.org/details/partnerinempired0000klin|url-access=registration
|page=[https://archive.org/details/partnerinempired0000klin/page/129 129]
|access-date=2013-11-05
|year=1976|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02927-9}}
*{{cite journal|ref={{harvid|Late Sir A. A. Apcar: Straits Times}}|url=http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19130430-1.2.70.aspx
|title=Late Sir A. A. Apcar|journal=The Straits Times|date=30 April 1913|page=9|access-date=2013-11-03}}
*{{cite book|last=Massey|first=Montague|title=Recollections of Calcutta for over half a century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dYiMhR9VglUC&pg=PA29|access-date=2013-11-05
|year=1918|publisher=NuVision Publications, LLC|isbn=978-1-61536-102-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Munro|first=J. Forbes|title=Maritime Enterprise and Empire: Sir William Mackinnon and His Business Network, 1823-93
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dm6tSiRizBcC&pg=PA58|access-date=2013-11-05
|year=2003|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=978-0-85115-935-5}}
*{{cite journal |ref={{harvid|Obituary Sir A.A. Apcar: The Times}} |url=http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/2006-09/1157114838
|title=Obituary Sir A.A. Apcar|journal=The Times |year=1913|access-date=2013-11-03}}
*{{cite book|last=Seth|first=Mesrovb Jacob|title=Armenians in India, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day: A Work of Original Research
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BlreO8bmK30C&pg=PA301|access-date=2013-11-05
|year=1937|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0812-2}}
*{{cite book|last=Seth|first=Mesrovb J.|title=History of the Armenians in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmSWcruCGVEC&pg=PA127|access-date=2013-11-04
|date=2004-01-01|publisher=Gorgias Press LLC|isbn=978-1-59333-049-1}}
*{{cite web |url=http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/2002-07/1025671434
|last=Wright|first=Nadia|title=Some notes on the Apcar Line |date=2 July 2002 |access-date=2013-11-05}}
*{{cite book|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clare-chapman-james-5658
|last=Zwillenberg|first=H.J.|chapter=Clare, Chapman James (1853–1940)
|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography |volume=8|publisher=MUP|year=1981|access-date=2013-11-05}}
{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apcar and Company}}
[[Category:1819 establishments in British India]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1819]]
[[Category:Defunct shipping companies of India]]

Apcar and Company - Revision history

>Citation bot at 20:15, 8 April 2021