Inchcape was taking an ever increasing interest in his Australian investments, and was now Chairman of BI and P and O combined having taken over from both the late Sir William Mackinnon and, latterly, Sir Thomas Sutherland.

Having decided that he wanted his Australian interests under one organisation, similar to that which he had experienced with Mackinnon Mackenzie of Calcutta, Inchcape had cabled B.W. Macdonald in September 1915 announcing his intention to liquidate British India and Queensland Agency and instead set up a partnership in which both Macdonald and Hamilton would have an interest.(1) The new firm was to act as the managing agents for AUSN.

Inchcape decided that the name of the new partnership should be called Macdonald Hamilton and Co., which was regarded with favour locally and was regarded as a great compliment to both men and to Queensland businessmen. Macdonald was a very highly regarded manager, in fact in 1902, with AUSN in the doldrums, his appointment was approvingly commented on by James Burns of Burns Philp in his Private Annual Report of that year, commenting ‘AUSN under Mr. B.W. Macdonald’s able management is rapidly regaining the position, previously lost, on the coast’.(2) Both men would head the activities of the Firm in Australia (3).

A meeting was called in order to ratify the Articles of Partnership which had been drawn up at Inchcape’s request. An Indenture, made on the 31st December 1915, was signed by Lord Inchcape, John Braidwood Gray, William Mackinnon, Duncan Mackinnon Junior, the Hon. Kenneth Mackay (son of Lord Inchcape) residing at various addresses in London and Benjamin Wickham Macdonald and David Hamilton, both of Brisbane (right) .(4)

The Indenture set out that the parties would become and remain partners in the business of merchants and shipping agents as from the 1st day of October in 1915. This for a period of 20 years and thereafter providing that either Inchcape, or any of the other partners, remained partners of the firm to be defined as “Macdonald, Hamilton and Co. There was to be among them a senior partner and all were to operate the business of the partnership in Australia with offices in Brisbane, Melbourne, Fremantle, Perth and any other place or places that the partners saw fit in the future”.(5)

In Brisbane, on the 4th January 1916, B.W. Macdonald and D. Hamilton appeared before a Queensland Notary and confirmed they were the persons whose names and signatures appeared on the Articles of Partnership (right) .(6)

The new partnership was to occupy, as its Head Office, the beatiful A.U.S.N. building in Brisbane., which would be re-named 'Naldham House'

The fine engraving, opposite, of the AUSN building appeared in the Annual Review of Queensland, December 1902. (and used by courtesy of, and sincere thanks to, Heritage Collections at the State Library of Queensland - Janette Garrad).

The name was an amalgam of part of the surnames of Benjamin Wickham Macdonald, and David Hamilton.This amalgam was continued as the official AUSN, and later Macdonald, Hamilton’s telegraphic address, for each state, e.g. Naldham Melbourne, Naldham Brisbane etc.

[Illustrations continued on page 2, text on page 3]

History of
Macdonald, Hamilton and Co.
(Introduction)