WILLIAM MACKINNON - SCOTS MERCHANT ADVENTURER - PIONEER IN ZANZIBAR

Hamish Mackinven

When Princess Margaret steps ashore on Zanzibar during her present tour she will be visiting a part of the British
Empire developed less than a century ago by an Argyllshire man who. improbably enough, began life as a grocer and
first fell under the spell of Africa while clerking for a Portuguese merchant in Glasgow.

William Mackinnon, who was born in 1823 in a tenement in Argyll Street. Campbeltown, landed for the first time in
Zanzibar. His parents were poor folk and only after a struggle did he manage to open a grocery shop in Camp-
beltown's Main Street.

He was then barely out of his 'teens, his apprenticeship newly finished, but he was an obliging youth and, as a result
business, quickly prospered, the future seemed secure.

But as he bustled behind his counter he dreamed of places far beyond Kintyre. Just when he had lain the foundations
of a good-going shop, the young man, to everyone's amazement, sold up and went to seek his fortune in Glasgow.

Stark necessity made him take the first job which came along, clerking in a silk warehouse. But, that was dull and he
soon moved to the office of a Portuguese importer. There, perched on a high stool for ten hours a day, he tallied
exotic goods from foreign parts. Through the office windows he watched the ships arrive and depart and caught
snatches of exciting conversation as sun-tanned skippers brushed past his desk on their way through the outer office to
the importer's private room.

The Portuguese, impressed with the new clerk's business acumen, offered the young man a partnership. For a second
time security beckoned, but again it was spurned and on his twenty-fourth birthday, with only a single ticket in his
wallet, William Mackinnon set out for The Bay of Bengal, where, after eight years spent trading, his name became a
by-word from Madras to Rangoon.

His First Ship

In 1854 he founded The Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company. and built his first ship, the "Cape of Good
Hope".

On her maiden voyage to Rangoon the vessel was accidentally run down and sunk. William, we are told, heard of the
disaster while sitting in his Calcutta office.

For a moment he said nothing, then, crossing to the window, he looked down on the teeming. jostling crowd as it
jammed the sundrenched street below. That sight redoubled his confidence and, without a moment's delay he
ordered another "Cape of Good Hope" and with her safely down the slipway he ordered his next ship, the "Baltic".

Soon the Mackinnon house flag flew at the masthead of a busy, enterprising fleet. To save The British Government
the expense of maintaining a large number of vessels, William built his ships for easy convertibility into troopships.
Again his foresight was sound. Mackinnon ships carried the first battalions sent to quell The Indian Mutiny.

Absolute integrity was his watchword. Once, hearing that certain of his agents were taking advantage of a severe
famine in Orissa to force up freight rates on desperately needed rice. Mackinnon hurried to the stricken zone,
dismissed the men responsible and shipped in rice at a heavy loss to himself until the famine was relieved.

The next step in his career was his formation of The British India Steam Navigation Company, his headquarters
transferred to London. The one-time Campbeltown grocer boy, while still in his forties, thus put himself right in the
forefront of international shipowners. Lord Palmerston offered Mackinnon a Knighthood, but he declined.

Suez Canal Opened

In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened and it is significant to remember that while the majority saw the canal as no more
than a quicker route to The Far East, Mackinnon was the first man to appreciate the value of the new waterway as a
means of easy access to the then almost completely unexplored and certainly quite undeveloped coasts of East Africa.

Mackinnon was no office-bound magnate and he soon visited East Africa, cruising down the coast for hundreds of
miles, sizing up the opportunities.
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What he found fascinated him, for here were riches as great as any in India and again Britain was first in the field.

The year 1873 saw the first of his ships plying regularly between Zanzibar and Aden, linking there with B.I. liners
doing the long haul to and from Britain.

Exploiting native peoples was utterly alien to Mackinnon. Such were his ideas of empire that, in 1878, the Sultan
Bargash of Zanzibar, immensely satisfied with the benefits brought to his lands by the great ships and deeply
impressed with the integrity and capacity of their owner, made the little Scot as remarkable an offer as has ever been
suggested by a ruling Prince to any foreigner.

The Sultan's offer amounted to "a concession for seventy years of the customs and administration of the dominions of
Zanzibar, including all rights of sovereignty".

This meant complete trading rights along 1,150 miles of coastline, together with all the country as far inland as the
Congo Free State, altogether some 590.000 square miles of virgin territory.

It sounded almost too good to be true and with all possible speed Mackinnon brought the news to London.

To his profound amazement however, The Foreign Office did not favour the transaction, try as Mackinnon might to
convince Whitehall of what the concession meant to Britain, the Civil Servants refused to be impressed.

In the face of such immovable bureaucracy, a lesser man might have given up, not so Mackinnon.

He knew that other eyes were already turned towards East Africa and, without allowing his disgust to cloud the greater
issues, he vowed that his company would stay on the East African coast, if only to hold a watching brief for Britain.

German Challenge

Single-handed, Mackinnon accepted the challenge of the Germans, who, under Carl Peters, were infiltrating
everywhere into East Africa.

Without Mackinnon's scruples, the Germans were busy signing secret, meaningless treaties with the local chiefs,
regardless of the fact that these chiefs were all subordinate to Sultan Bargash.

Mackinnon kept hammering at The Government, informing them of every move made by the Germans but, without
avail and then, at last, in 1885, The Foreign Office realised they had been caught napping.

By then, however, The Kaiser had granted his nationals in East Africa a charter which brought into being German
East Africa and Tanganyika.

Fortunately for Britain throughout this unhappy episode, Mackinnon remained the Sultan's staunch friend and,
although handicapped by lack of official backing, he never ceased to safeguard the Sultan's territories as best he could.

His efforts were rewarded and in 1888 the Sultan offered a second concession.

This time, taking nothing for granted, Mackinnon formed The Imperial British East Africa Trading Company, to
which Queen Victoria granted an immediate Royal Charter on September 3, 1888.

The published aims of the company were characteristic of the man. They included the abolition of slavery, equal
treatment for men of all nations, complete religious liberty and the administration of justice, regardless of class or
creed.

Again success followed success for Mackinnon. Vast surveys and explorations were undertaken, roads and railways
fanned out in many directions, trading and missionary posts were set up and Mombasa was transformed from a
collection of mud huts into a great and thriving seaport.

In 1889 Queen Victoria created William Mackinnon a Baronet and by the following year his influence had penetrated to
Uganda and his company had extended its influence from Mombasa to the Albert Edward Nyanza and north to the
banks of the White Nile.

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Invitation to Crown

In 1893, a few months before he died, Sir William invited The Crown to step in and take over the administration of all
his undertakings in East Africa.

He realised that for the ultimate good of Britain and of the millions of coloured people to whom he had brought
civilisation, the entire might and power of The British Empire must be brought to bear directly on his territories.

Like so many far-seeing men, Sir William realised the vital role which The Church has to play in empire.

He founded The East African Scottish Mission, which became The Church of Scotland Kenya Mission and flourishes
to-day with tens of thousands of communicants.

For all that however, Sir William never lost his love of Scotland. At his own wish he was buried in the Kintyre village
of Clachan.

"His record," it was written at the time of his death, "is one of which any man could be proud. His victories were
those of peace and they have indeed been great and beneficient. His name was known and his influence felt in almost
every part of The World".