Cecil Vernon Lindo (1870 - 1960) was a Jamaican banker, industrialist, planter and philanthropist.

Early life

Cecil Lindo was born in 1870, in

Falmouth, Jamaica Falmouth () is the chief town and capital of the parish of Trelawny in Jamaica. It is situated on Jamaica's north coast 29 km (18 miles) east of Montego Bay. It is noted for being one of the Caribbean's best-preserved Georgian towns. The ...

, to Frederick Lindo and Grace Morales, the sixth of ten children. He migrated to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

from Jamaica at age 18. His older brothers, Howard, Abraham and Robert had arrived in 1885 to work for

Minor Cooper Keith Minor Cooper Keith (19 January 1848 – 14 June 1929) was an American businessman whose railroad, commercial agriculture, and cargo liner enterprises had a major impact on the national economies of the Central American countries, as well as on t ...

, who was building a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

from Limon to San Jose. He worked as a paymaster from 1889-91 for £2 per week.

Career

Cecil organised the Lindo brothers in 1891, starting with the purchase of a commissary at Matina from

. The brothers soon expanded, opening a store in

Limón Limón (), also known as Puerto Limón, is the capital city of both the province and canton of the same name. One of Costa Rica's seven "middle cities" (i.e., main cities outside of San José's Greater Metropolitan Area), Limón has a populat ...

and planting bananas. In 1899, they opened a bank in Limon. He was Vice Consul of the United Kingdom in

from 1896-1901. In 1907, the brothers entered the coffee business, starting with the purchase of

Juan Viñas Juan Viñas is a district of the Jiménez canton, in the Cartago province of Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northe ...

, a vast sugar and coffee farm from

Federico Tinoco Granados General José Federico Alberto de Jesús Tinoco Granados (21 November 1868 – 7 September 1931), known as "Pelico", was a politician, soldier, and dictator of Costa Rica from 1917 to 1919. Biography Tinoco was born in 1868. On 5 June ...

. They continued purchasing properties and soon became largest coffee and sugar producers in the country. In 1908, the brothers founded the

Florida Ice and Farm Company Florida Ice and Farm Company S.A. (abbreviated as FIFCO) is a Costa Rican food and beverages company headquartered in the province of Heredia, Costa Rica. It has a catalog of over 2000 products, sold in over 15 countries. FIFCO is structured as ...

. By 1911, the Lindo properties were producing half of Costa Rica's bananas, and

Joseph DiGiorgio Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef (given name), Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mode ...

, on behalf of the Atlantic Fruit Company, approached Lindo Bros with idea of purchasing all of their banana plantations, although the entire production was contracted to

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was ...

until July, 1914. On October 27, 1911, Cecil gave the Atlantic Fruit Company an option to purchase their banana plantations for $3,500,000 before August, 1912. Cecil was to be the General Manager of the Atlantic Fruit Company in Costa Rica. The company could not or would not execute the option, and in 1912, the Lindo's was sold the properties to

that year for $5,000,000. By 1913, the Lindo brothers were owners of vast sugar, coffee and cocoa estates, lumber and flour mills, breweries, ice-making and aerated factories. They operated 7,000 acres of Coffee plantations, which were producing and exporting three millions pounds of coffee each year, with an approximate value of half a million dollars.

Jamaica

In 1914, Lindo Bros & Co. Ltd. was formed and began to purchase large agricultural properties in Jamaica. In 1916 Lindo Bros & Co. bought Appleton Estate and

J. Wray and Nephew Ltd. J. Wray and Nephew Ltd. is a distiller, blender, and bottler of rum, originating and operating in Kingston, Jamaica. History In 1825, John Wray opened "The Shakespeare Tavern" in Kingston. In 1860, Wray brought in his nephew Charles James Ward ...

in 1917. In 1925 the Lindo Bros, in partnership with Allan Keeling, invested £1,000,000 in the establishment of the Bernard Lodge Central Sugar Factory. In 1928, the Lindo Bros sold 56,600 acres of land St. Catherine & Clarendon to the

for £2,000,000, which at the time, was the largest transaction in the history of the island. That year Cecil purchased

Devon House Devon House, built in 1881, is the former residence of George Stiebel (1820–1896), Jamaica's first millionaire of colour, in St. Andrew. He gained his wealth in Venezuela and returned to Jamaica. He was appointed as the Custos, a high civic po ...

from Reginald Melhado. In Who's Who in 1938 we are told his philanthropies were in the region of £60,000 annually in Jamaica alone.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindo, Cecil 1870 births 1960 deaths Jamaican bankers 20th-century Jamaican people Jamaican people of Jewish descent Jamaican people of Spanish descent Jamaican philanthropists