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19th century. In 1891 the Hong Kong Telegraph spoke of the firm in less than complimentary terms;
the everlasting Bugbears of Eastern commerce, the nigger-drivers, the sweaters, the Jews worse than Jews,
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for no Jew was ever so full of hatred and persecution and intolerance of all others...
Yet Swire's was sometimes also accused of having more liberal racial views, and comments were rife when B&S invited Chinese brokers to a dinner. A recorded comment was:
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the Swire lot blustering away among the Chinamen (hobnobbing) with every unwashed devil in the place
John Swire died in 1898, wealthy and prestigious.
During World War I Governor Sir Henry May accused Swire's of reluctance to help the war effort for failing to provide volunteers for the defence of the Colony. Today, with people in their employ like Lady Lydia Dunn, Howard Young and others, Swire's can certainly no longer be accused of lacking in community spirit.
From 1878, Jardine's acted as agents for the China Sugar Refining Company at East Point. But after going East, Swire soon started to diversify. John Samuel's first marriage was to the owner of a sugar refinery, and not only did he consider he knew something about the business but a study conducted in Hong Kong satisfied him there was potential for two refineries. Consequently, Taikoo Sugar Refining Company was first registered in 1881, although it did not commence production until 1884, at Quarry Bay, in a refinery based on a design of a factory in Scotland.
By the early 1900s Taikoo was the largest sugar refinery east of Suez, with a turnover of approximately 2,000 tons a week. At one stage it was said to be the largest in the world under one roof. The company was the first in Hong Kong to provide living accommodation on site for its staff. A new factory was completed in 1925. This had to be refitted after World War II, but in the early 1950s there were about 650 workers and it was still the largest sugar refiner in the Far East.