Serdang Central Plantations Ltd.

This material is held atSchool of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Archives, University of London

Scope and Content

The collection comprises Articles of Association, correspondence, annual reports and agreements relating to the voluntary liquidation and reconstruction of Serdang Central Plantations Ltd.

Administrative / Biographical History

Serdang Central Plantations Ltd. was registered as a company on 12 January 1909, to acquire and manage estates and plantations for the production of rubber, coffee, cocoa and other crops. The company's registered offices were at Mincing Lane House, Eastcheap, London. The Directors in 1909 were William Frederick de Bois Maclaren, Herbert Wright, Frank Copeman and James Charles Tate. The first Annual General Meeting of the company was held on 16 March 1909. The first estates to be purchased were Soekaloewi and Boloewa, Malaysia. This was extended in 1929 with the acquisition of the Wass

enaar Estate in the Tamiang District of Sumatra.

By 1918 the company was feeling the effects of wider problems in the rubber plantation industry caused by a lack of shipping, the restriction of imports imposed by the Government of the United States of America and the consequently low prices of rubber. By 1921, the company had joined the restriction scheme of the Rubber Growers' Association in an attempt to stabilise prices. By 1932 the company faced liquidation, and turned to its shareholders to support a voluntary liquidation of the company and reconstruction of a new company under the same name. The new company was incorporated on 8th September 1932.

Arrangement

The material has been arranged in chronological order.

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

Transferred to SOAS in July 1989, through the British Records Association.

Other Finding Aids

Unpublished handlist