Irwin & Co., Ltd.

Object/Artifact

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Hawaii's History, A Personal Collection

Author's Personal Collection: Postmark year 1894 cancellation and ship cancellation. 1893 2-cent Queen Liliuokalani stamps with a red "Provisional GOVT. 1893". After working for other businessmen for several years, and shortly after the passage of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875, Irwin partnered with John Smith Walker and Zephaniah Swift Spalding to form William G. Irwin & Co. That partnership was terminated in 1880.[1] Wikipedia Reference nos.
Author's Personal Collection

Postmark year 1894 cancellation and ship cancellation. 1893 2-cent Queen Liliuokalani stamps with a red "Provisional GOVT. 1893". After working for other businessmen for several years, and shortly after the passage of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875, Irwin partnered with John Smith Walker and Zephaniah Swift Spalding to form William G. Irwin & Co. That partnership was terminated in 1880.[1] Wikipedia Reference nos.

Name/Title

Irwin & Co., Ltd.

Description

The William G. Irwin company was involved in Hawaii's sugar industry, acting as an agent for sugar plantations and owning stock in others, as well as being involved in shipping through the Oceanic Steamship Company and establishing the Bank of Honolulu with Claus Spreckels. The company's activities also included a major role in facilitating Japanese immigration to Hawaii, where William Irwin was known as the "Father of Japanese Immigration to Hawaii". The company eventually merged with C. Brewer and Company in 1910. William G. Irwin (1843 – January 28, 1914) was a capitalist and successful sugar planter in the Kingdom of Hawai'i. He was born in England, and emigrated to Hawaii with his family while still a child. He would remain a British citizen throughout his life. Educated at Punahou School, he was in the right place at the right time to make a lot of money in the sugar plantation market. After working for other businessmen for several years, and shortly after the passage of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875, Irwin partnered with John Smith Walker and Zephaniah Swift Spalding to form William G. Irwin & Co. That partnership was terminated in 1880.[1] California entrepreneur Claus Spreckels offered him a separate partnership in 1881, a union that would come to include the Spreckels interests in sugar plantations, and have subsidiaries in banking activities and ship building. Two decades later, after amassing a fortune in his association with Spreckels, Irwin moved away from the plantation activities and relocated to San Francisco, where he continued his affiliations with financial institutions. Wikipedia Reference nos.

Web Links and URLs

Wikipedia - William G Irwin, Another interesting article on William G Irwin buying the island of Lanai - for only a $1??

Created By

hawaiiancovers@gmail.com

Create Date

September 18, 2025

Update Date

September 18, 2025