Yrisarri & Co.: a hispanic-anglo firm in the opium trade in east Asia (1815-30)

Abstract

Through a study of the Francisco Xavier de Yrisarri-James Matheson relationship, this chapter analyses what the leading historian W.E. Cheong called the 'Spanish connection' , a key factor in the development of Canton trade between 1815 and 1830. It offers some insights about the context in which Hispanic actors had originated from, as epitomized by Yrisarri's case. The chapter then demonstrates that the Hispanic contribution to the development of the opium trade in East Asia was essential for its evolution in the uncertain circumstance of the 1820s, a period neglected in most analyses of Westerners trade in Asia. The increasing Spanish trade in Canton resulted from profound changes experienced in the Philippines under the influence of the wider Bourbon reforms. The end of the Galleon trade was followed by the trade liberalization in the Spanish Pacific, and as a result, Hispanic trans-Pacific trade from Manila developed.