Whiteaway Laidlaw & Co Ltd.

1882 - 1962

The company of Whiteaway Laidlaw & Co. Ltd was established in 1882 as a department store for the British in India. The founders were Sir Robert Laidlaw and Edward Whiteaway. Laidlaw was a 26 year old Scotsman and textile merchant who had been living in India for 5 years. He would have been well aware of the needs of people similar to himself and how difficult it was for them to buy what they wanted. Whiteaway was born in 1851 and looks to have married in Calcutta in 1874 suggesting he was resident in the city. 

They were described as general outfitters, drapers and sellers of general household goods but their adverts also noted that Travelling Goods were a speciality. Unlike many retailers of the time, they insisted on payment at the time of purchase and did not offer accounts. The business expanded from their first store in Calcutta to approximately 20 other cities in the country and further afield to British East Africa, Burma, Ceylon, China, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Siam.

On the 30th of April 1898, the partnership was dissolved and the company continued under Laidlaw who appears to have been the driving force from the start. If this is being read on a listing other than by Christopher Clarke Antiques, it has been copied without their permission. The company had been set up to offer luxury British goods to Europeans overseas and enjoyed a good reputation. However, as it expanded their market changed and they became known as ... show more

The company of Whiteaway Laidlaw & Co. Ltd was established in 1882 as a department store for the British in India. The founders were Sir Robert Laidlaw and Edward Whiteaway. Laidlaw was a 26 year old Scotsman and textile merchant who had been living in India for 5 years. He would have been well aware of the needs of people similar to himself and how difficult it was for them to buy what they wanted. Whiteaway was born in 1851 and looks to have married in Calcutta in 1874 suggesting he was resident in the city. 

They were described as general outfitters, drapers and sellers of general household goods but their adverts also noted that Travelling Goods were a speciality. Unlike many retailers of the time, they insisted on payment at the time of purchase and did not offer accounts. The business expanded from their first store in Calcutta to approximately 20 other cities in the country and further afield to British East Africa, Burma, Ceylon, China, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Siam.

On the 30th of April 1898, the partnership was dissolved and the company continued under Laidlaw who appears to have been the driving force from the start. If this is being read on a listing other than by Christopher Clarke Antiques, it has been copied without their permission. The company had been set up to offer luxury British goods to Europeans overseas and enjoyed a good reputation. However, as it expanded their market changed and they became known as

the place for junior officers with less money available, to buy all their needs.

Robert Laidlaw also owned tea estates in Darjeeling and rubber estates in the Federated Malay States. He was the member of parliament for the Eastern Division of Renfrewshire between 1906 and 1910 and was knighted in 1909. He was the British Commissioner at the International Opium Commission in Shanghai and treasurer for the London Missionary Society. He was also chairman of the Dusun Durian Rubber Estate and a Director of the Elphil Rubber Co.

Indian Independence in 1947 greatly reduced Whiteaway Laidlaw & Co. Ltd.'s customer base as many of the British left. They continued in business until 1962.