| Cruttenden, Mackillop and Company | |
| Type: | Agency House |
| Founded: | 18th century in British India |
| Founders: | James Mackillop and George Cruttenden |
| Hq Location: | Fort William, India, Calcutta |
| Hq Location City: | Calcutta, Bengal Presidency |
| Hq Location Country: | British India |
| Area Served: | British India |
| Services: | Trading and Banking |
Cruttenden, Mackillop and Company, Limited, often simply called Cruttenden and Co., was an agency house in British India founded by traders and merchants from Scotland.
The two founders of the agency house were James Mackillop and George Cruttenden.[1] [2] Mackillop's relative had previously been a partner at the agency house of Palmer and Company.[3] He later founded the agency house by the name of Cruttenden, Mackillop and Company in Kolkata.[4] One of the notable employees of the Cruttenden, Mackillop and Company agency house was Benjamin Wolff who was able to get rich from the indigo trade of British India.[5]
Like many other agency houses of the time, the main business of Cruttenden, Mackillop and Company was the sale and export of commodities such as indigo.[6] Cruttenden Mackillop & Co. also tendered the ship Sourabaya for the conveyance of iron. In 1816 private tonnage had to be arranged through the agency houses of Calcutta for the conveyance of 10,000 bags of need to the settlement.[7]
During its peak, Cruttenden and Co. was among the five largest agency houses in British India.[8] [9]
The Cruttenden, Mackillop and Co. agency house failed in January 1834 due to major economic downturn affecting the British India.[10] The main cause of the economic crisis was the unexpected fall in the prices of commodities such as Indigo.
The legacy of Cruttenden and Co. and its role in shaping the economic fortunes of India have been widely recognized. It has been credited as a major pioneer in the history of banking in India.
The failure of the early Indian financial firms also led to the passing of the Companies Act, 1860 which granted limited liability to banking companies. Many of the early Indian banks had been partnership firms with unlimited liability.