Page 82 - Mellinato, Giulio, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime Port Cities: The Northern Adriaticin a Comparative Perspective. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 82
plex Gateways
from the beginning, also traded in many other goods (mostly colonial)
primarily sold in the East, in Istanbul and İzmir. An inventory of the
various goods in the warehouses was compiled at the start of business,
in 1753, by Balthasar Proli (Antwerp 1722 – Germany circa 1804), the el-
der brother of the famous Charles Proli, who in the meantime dedicated
himself more to Far East business affairs and the Trieste Asian Company
than to the business in Rijeka. One of the leading people in the Rijeka
plants, Balthasar confirmed the wide scope of the business (Michielsen
1936, 23).16 Apart from Rijeka and Trieste, the goods in the warehouses in
Milan were also listed, and the quantities on Proli’s list were expressed
in Viennese pounds (circa 560 grams); the greatest quantities were of cof-
fee and cocoa, but there were also paper, pepper, tea and ginger, and flax
seeds, as well as ropes, indigo, and lead. One of the directors, Kennedy,
made a note of what business was involved on 18 August 1755. There were
‘little speculations such as the one in which a thousand pounds of cof-
fee procured in Marseille were sold in Venice along with a good profit’
(Michielsen 1936, 23).
Although the refineries in Rijeka were, by 1754, producing enough
sugar to supply the Austrian Hereditary Lands, the Company’s owners in
Antwerp did not like the losses, which they obviously did not consider as
justified. The ships that were built were sold unfavourably, and there were
also other losses because the administration took too many risks in the
production of potash, candle wax, and rosolio. Therefore, by 1754, a new
administration was in place and a new name was given to the company
that began to be called Arnoldt, Kennedy, Wellens & Comp. Despite the
changes, Arnoldt remained a member of the administration until 1758.
From 1760 a representative of the Austrian shareholders, a councillor
of the Provincial Administration in Trieste (consigliere dell’ i.r. governo di
Trieste) participated in the balance check every year.
The fact that on 30 June 1768, the company had 704 employees, 339
from Rijeka and the surrounding area, 316 other Austrian subjects, and 49
foreigners, as well as the structure of employees who, apart from working
in the Rijeka refineries in the direct production of sugar, also worked in
the warehouses, in the transport of firewood, and as waggoneers, carpen-
16 Original list: ‘Cacao 18,854 lb, gingembre 2,085 lb, brax rafine’ 203 lb, bois de
campeche 4,272 lb, plomb d’Angeleterre 5,735 lb, piment 4,228 lb, semence de lin
1,903 lb, cordages 1,205 lb, Indigo St Domingue 525 lb, bois de lie’ge 89 lb, peaux de
vau d’Angleterre 1,090 lb, cuir a’ semelles 165 lb, plomb brule’ 1,678 lb, caffe (Bour-
bon-Martinique) 29,824 lb, the’ 4,051 lb, poivre 8,496 lb.’
82
from the beginning, also traded in many other goods (mostly colonial)
primarily sold in the East, in Istanbul and İzmir. An inventory of the
various goods in the warehouses was compiled at the start of business,
in 1753, by Balthasar Proli (Antwerp 1722 – Germany circa 1804), the el-
der brother of the famous Charles Proli, who in the meantime dedicated
himself more to Far East business affairs and the Trieste Asian Company
than to the business in Rijeka. One of the leading people in the Rijeka
plants, Balthasar confirmed the wide scope of the business (Michielsen
1936, 23).16 Apart from Rijeka and Trieste, the goods in the warehouses in
Milan were also listed, and the quantities on Proli’s list were expressed
in Viennese pounds (circa 560 grams); the greatest quantities were of cof-
fee and cocoa, but there were also paper, pepper, tea and ginger, and flax
seeds, as well as ropes, indigo, and lead. One of the directors, Kennedy,
made a note of what business was involved on 18 August 1755. There were
‘little speculations such as the one in which a thousand pounds of cof-
fee procured in Marseille were sold in Venice along with a good profit’
(Michielsen 1936, 23).
Although the refineries in Rijeka were, by 1754, producing enough
sugar to supply the Austrian Hereditary Lands, the Company’s owners in
Antwerp did not like the losses, which they obviously did not consider as
justified. The ships that were built were sold unfavourably, and there were
also other losses because the administration took too many risks in the
production of potash, candle wax, and rosolio. Therefore, by 1754, a new
administration was in place and a new name was given to the company
that began to be called Arnoldt, Kennedy, Wellens & Comp. Despite the
changes, Arnoldt remained a member of the administration until 1758.
From 1760 a representative of the Austrian shareholders, a councillor
of the Provincial Administration in Trieste (consigliere dell’ i.r. governo di
Trieste) participated in the balance check every year.
The fact that on 30 June 1768, the company had 704 employees, 339
from Rijeka and the surrounding area, 316 other Austrian subjects, and 49
foreigners, as well as the structure of employees who, apart from working
in the Rijeka refineries in the direct production of sugar, also worked in
the warehouses, in the transport of firewood, and as waggoneers, carpen-
16 Original list: ‘Cacao 18,854 lb, gingembre 2,085 lb, brax rafine’ 203 lb, bois de
campeche 4,272 lb, plomb d’Angeleterre 5,735 lb, piment 4,228 lb, semence de lin
1,903 lb, cordages 1,205 lb, Indigo St Domingue 525 lb, bois de lie’ge 89 lb, peaux de
vau d’Angleterre 1,090 lb, cuir a’ semelles 165 lb, plomb brule’ 1,678 lb, caffe (Bour-
bon-Martinique) 29,824 lb, the’ 4,051 lb, poivre 8,496 lb.’
82
