37mm. Silver. Unsigned.
Obverse with garnished shield named to William Keswick, two inward-facing dragons as supporters. In background, ship sailing right upon the seas, with rising sun upon the horizon. Reverse with three coats-of-arms arranged in pattern, with wreath of roses, thistles, and shamrocks below. Edge engraved: "PRESENTED BY THE SHANGHAI MUNICIPALITY," with clasp and loop attached at the top.
Slabbed and graded by NGC as MS62.
The certification number for this medal is 6673483-002.
These medals were presented to important individuals involved in Shanghai at the time of the jubilee and in recent years have seen a massive rise in popularity owing to their connection to prominent individuals involved in the history of China. As they were intented for wearing, they are often found in worn condition or with various marks and edge knocks. An MS63 example sold by Stacks Bowers Galleries in May 2022 for a hammer price of US$24,000.
Please note that payment for this medal is via bank wire transfer only.
William Keswick (15 April 1834 – 9 March 1912) was a British Conservative politician and businessman, patriarch of the Keswick family, an influential shipping family in Hong Kong associated with Jardine Matheson Holdings.
Keswick was born in 1834 in Dumfriesshire in the Scottish Lowlands. His grandmother, Jean Jardine Johnstone, was an older sister of Dr. William Jardine, co-founder of Jardine Matheson. His father Thomas Keswick, from Dumfriesshire had married Jardine's niece and daughter of Jean, Margaret Johnstone, and entered the Jardine business. The company operated as merchant traders and had a major influence in the First and Second Opium Wars although the company stopped this trading in 1870 to pursue a broad range of trades including shipping, railways, textiles and property development.
William arrived in China and Hong Kong in 1855, the first of six generations of the Keswick family to be associated with Jardines. He established a Jardine Matheson office in Yokohama, Japan in 1859. He returned to Hong Kong to become a partner of the firm in 1862. He became managing partner or Tai-pan of the firm in 1874 until his departure in 1886. He left Hong Kong in 1886 to take control of Matheson & Co. in London responsible only to the firm's senior partner Sir Robert Jardine (1825–1905). He remained the firm's managing director until his death in 1912. Keswick also served as a director in the then British-based fur trading firm Hudson's Bay Company.
He spent three spells on the Legislative and Executive Councils of Hong Kong between 1868 and 1887. He was further listed as a director of the Hong Kong, Canton & Macao Steamboat Company in 1876. Whilst in the colony, William also served as Consul-general for the Kingdom of Hawaii, for which he was made a Knight Commander of the Hawaiian Order of Kalakao (named in honour of Kalākaua, the country's last king). He also acted as consul for the Kingdom of Denmark in Hong Kong.
His grandson, William Johnston Keswick "Tony" (1903–90) was Jardine's Tai-pan between 1934 and 1941 and later Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. The current leadership of Jardines still comprises members of the Keswick family, including Ben Keswick as Executive Chairman and Adam Keswick as Executive Director, showing the deep rooted connection between the Keswick family and Hong Kong.