Series 4 > William Melrose in China, 1845-1855

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WILLIAM MELROSE IN CHINA
life of a country gentleman. In the ‘peace and tranquility’ of
Pendreich, the family retained a little of the flavour of the country¬
man.1
William’s father may have been a keen businessman but he was
withal a kindly, considerate and affectionate person and not without
a sense of humour. He and his wife remained throughout their
lives staunchly loyal to their various relatives. Andrew’s generosity
is amply demonstrated by the advances of money to various relatives
recorded in the account books and by the annuities provided for his
sisters and his servants in his will.2 Indeed, the rapidity with which
Andrew rose to prominence in the business community of Edinburgh
was not achieved at the price of some of the simpler virtues of family
living. Andrew may have worn his religion lightly - he was no
bigot - but it formed an integral part of the daily life of the family.
One of his staunchest and closest friends was John Clark, minister
at the Old Kirk, who journeyed to Shrewsbury to baptize Andrew’s
first grandson.3 Neither business nor pleasure were allowed to inter¬
fere with his attention to the services of God. Nor did the family
live extravagantly.4 But it was a happy congenial home.
For the wholesale tea dealer, the abolition of the East India Com¬
pany’s monopoly in 1833 presented a challenge. Not all were
convinced of the merits of free trade. For over half a century the
Company had provided tea dealers of the kingdom with a relatively
safe market - a supply of tea closely tied to the fluctuations of
demand, a series of upset prices at the Company’s auctions that
varied little from year to year and, above all, a fine assortment of
kinds and qualities constantly adjusted to changes in taste. All these
were to be displaced by what seemed to some the mad scramble of
free trade. Despite the vigorous opposition of London dealers, five
outports were to be opened to direct importation from China.
1 ama, A. S. Craig to A. M., 11 May 1851; Pendreich Private Cash Book, 1823-53.
2 ama, State of Accounts between the late A. M. of Glencorse and Messrs A. M. &
Co., 1855; Pendreich Private Cash Book, 1823-53 I the will of A. M., sro, Commis-
sariot of Edinburgh, Record of Testamentary Deeds, 1855, xlii, 634-6.
3 A. S. Craig to A. M., 31 Oct. 1849, ama. For Clark, see below, p. n, n. 1.
4 For A. M.’s personal expenditure, see below, p. Ixxv n. 2.