The Williamson-Balfour Company (or ''Williamson, Balfour and Company'') was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

owned

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an company. Its successor company, Williamson Balfour Motors S.A., is a subsidiary of the British company

Inchcape plc Inchcape plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational automotive distribution, retail and services company headquartered in London, England. An outgrowth of Calcutta-based Mackinnon Mackenzie Company, Inchcape has operations in 3 ...

. The company was founded in Valparaiso in 1863 as a subsidiary of the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

shipping company Balfour Williamson (founded by the Scots Alexander Balfour and Stephen Williamson). The company was involved in the export of nitrates and wool to England, and later the west coast of the United States. The company diversified into railways, oil, minerals and other activities. When the Chilean government annexed

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

in 1888, it was leased to Enrique Merlet, who sold his control to the Williamson-Balfour Company; they in turn created a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

called ''Compañía Explotadora de la Isla de Pascua'' (CEDIP), which ran Easter Island as a

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

farm. The company constructed a boundary wall around Hanga Roa and sheep rearing structures. During the company's rule and for several years after, the

Rapa Nui Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

people were confined to Hanga Roa, which they were not allowed to leave without permission. In 1953, the Chilean government refused to renew their lease and transferred the island to the

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy () is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense (Chile), Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Ori ...

and the sheep farming operations ceased. In 1966, the Rapa Nui of Easter Island gained full Chilean

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

. On the Chilean mainland the company operated a number of flour mills, and was involved in the import of machinery and other activities. In 1965 the company sold its milling operations, and was itself acquired by the Bank of London and South America (BOLSA). In 1972 BOLSA was acquired by

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...

, which in 1981 sold the Williamson-Balfour companies to Inchcape plc. In the late 1990s Inchcape decided to concentrate on the distribution of motors, and the non-motor businesses, including Williamson Balfour Agrocomercial Ltda, were sold to

Sigdo Koppers {{Infobox company, name = Sigdo Koppers S.A. , logo = , type = S.A. (corporation), Sociedad Anónima , traded_as = {{bcs, SK , company_slogan = , foundation = 1960, location = Santiago, Chile, key_peo ...

in 2000. Williamson Balfour Motors S.A. is still owned by Inchcape, and is now the importer and distributor of

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

and

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a British luxury automobile maker that has operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW, BMW AG since 2003 – as the exclusive manufacturer of ''Rolls-Royce''-branded motor cars. The company's administra ...

in Chile.

References

Bibliography

* Diamond, Jared (2005) ''Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive'' New York *Fischer, S.R. (2007) ''Island at the End of the World'' {{Authority control European colonization of South America Companies of Chile Economic history of Scotland History of Easter Island 1863 establishments in Chile 1888 in Chile 1888 in Oceania 1953 in Chile 1953 in Oceania