Abstract
The Crawshays, a famous iron-maker family in South Wales, became inactive in the management of their iron-works in the middle of the 19th century. On the contrary, Crawshay (William II) rapidly increased his investment in securities such as Consols and domestic and foreign railway bonds, becoming in 1867 the greatest government stock holder in Great Britain. Why happened such a transition from industrial investment to investment in securities since 1850's?
The general condition of Crawshay's business was very sound in 1850's. Some unfavourable factors, however, were forecast in the future of their business: first, the decline of production of iron ore in South Wales, a drastic change of the products from wrought iron to steel and the development of labour movement. In addition to these external factors, there was an unfavourable circumstance in Crawshay family itself: the lack of successor's talent for management. The reasons above mentioned seem to have been the key factors for the change from an ironmaster to a rentier.
Crawshay thus suffered a great loss in iron-making in 1870's and eventually closed the iron-works. On the other hand, Crawshay's securities which amounted to over one million pounds brought the family tens of thousands pounds return a year. This article compares also Crawshay with the Dowlais Iron Company, and explains the difference in investment activity between the two rivals.
