1816-1860 Early Years
1816 Where it all began
Category: CorporateJohn Swire (1793-1847) founded an import-export business in Liverpool, UK.
1847 The sons take the reins
Category: CorporateJohn Swire died and left the business to his sons, John Samuel Swire (1825-1898) and William Hudson Swire (1830-1884) and it was later renamed John Swire & Sons. John Samuel Swire took the company overseas and laid the foundations of what we are today.
1854 Australia-bound
Category: CorporateJohn Samuel Swire sailed to Australia and established Swire Bros. in Melbourne to import a range of goods, from fencing wire and cement to olive oil and Guinness. He returned to Liverpool in 1858.