Records of Kanan Devan Hills Produce Co Ltd
- Reference:GB 248 UGD 091/16
- Dates of Creation:1877-1995
- Name of Creator:
- Language of Material:English
- Physical Description:3.15 linear metres
Scope and Content
Includes:
- Shareholding records;
- Accounting records;
- Staff records;
- Property records;
- The minutes of the Board of Directors' meetings 1897-1995;
- Annual General Meeting minutes 1964-1995;
- Corporate Records 1906-1977;
- Balance sheets 1956-1969;
- Trout of Travancore by WSS MacKay 1944;
- High Range Angling Association information booklets 1941-1951.
Administrative / Biographical History
Kanan Devan Hills Produce Co Ltd, tea planters, Glasgow, Scotland, was formed in 1897 as a subsidiary of James Finlay & Co Ltd, textile manufacturers, tea planters, and merchants, Glasgow. It had been Sir John Muir, senior partner in James Finlay & Co Ltd, who had seen the possibilities for investment in the tea industry, which led to the formation of the four companies known as the Finlay Group: Amalgamated Tea Estates Co Ltd, tea planters, Glasgow, 1896 ; The Consolidated Tea & Lands Co Ltd, tea planters, Edinburgh, Scotland 1896 ; The Kanan Devan Hills Produce Co Ltd, 1897 ; and The Anglo-American Direct Tea Trading Co Ltd, tea planters, Edinburgh, 1898. This radically altered the basis of James Finlay & Co Ltd from a firm with its principal interest in cotton in Scotland to a firm with its principal interests in tea and jute in India. Kanan Devan Hills Produce Co Ltd s tea estates were in North Travancore, India, and had originally been the property of the North Travancore Land Planting & Agricultural Society, which had passed to Consolidated Tea & Lands Co Ltd. Consolidated Tea & Lands Co Ltd continued to hold a large interest in Kanan Devan Hills Produce Co Ltd up to the 1950s, although Finlay, Muir & Co Ltd, agents, and merchants, Calcutta, India, acted as managing agents. While a major portion of the produce was exported, in 1916 the surplus Tea from the Kanan Devan hills started being distributed in South India and Central India through the local Tea Sales Department. Finlay, Muir & Co Ltd held control over most of the estates till 1964, when James Finlay & Co Ltd entered into collaboration with Tata Tea Ltd, tea producers, Calcutta, India, for setting up an instant tea factory in the Kanan Devan hills. In 1976, Tata Tea Ltd took over the tea production and marketing operations of James Finlay & Co Ltd and a new company, Tata Finlay Ltd, was born. In 1983, James Finlay & Co Ltd sold their shareholdings in Tata Tea Ltd. The company was dissolved in 2001.
Arrangement
Files arranged as received.
Access Information
Access to certain records within this collection is restricted due to the sensitive and personal nature of the records in accordance with data protection legislation. All material under 30 years old is closed to access in accordance with the donors wishes. Please email Archives and Special Collections for advice: library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk
Other Finding Aids
See also University of Glasgow Collections
Alternative Form Available
No known copies of this material
Conditions Governing Use
Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of documents Any work intended for publication that is based on research from this collection must be approved in advance. Apply in the first instance to Archives and Special Collections, email: library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk
Appraisal Information
This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 248 procedures. Duplicates have been removed.
Custodial History
Not known
Accruals
None expected
Related Material
Material in other repositories: GB 059 Finlay Campbell & Co and Finlay Muir & Co (British Library: Oriental and India Office Collections). More historical information can be obtained from India Office Library, 125 Blackfriars Road, London SE1, Ref: Eur. MSS D.1063.
Location of Originals
This material is original
Subjects
Corporate Names
Geographical Names