Cecil Vernon Lindo

Cecil Vernon Lindo (1870 - 1960) was a Jamaican banker, industrialist, planter and philanthropist.[1]

Cecil Vernon Lindo
Born1870
Falmouth, Jamaica
Died1960
Devon House
Parent
FamilyLindo family

Early life

Cecil Lindo was born in 1870, in Falmouth, Jamaica, to Frederick Lindo and Grace Morales, the sixth of ten children.

He migrated to Costa Rica from Jamaica at age 18. His older brothers, Howard, Abraham and Robert had arrived in 1885 to work for Minor Cooper Keith, who was building a railroad from Limon to San Jose.[2] He worked as a paymaster from 1889-91 for £2 per week.[3]

Career
Lindo Sugar Factory at Juan Viñas

Cecil organised the Lindo brothers in 1891, starting with the purchase of a commissary at Matina from Minor Cooper Keith.

The brothers soon expanded, opening a store in Limón and planting bananas. In 1899, they opened a bank in Limon.[4][5]

He was Vice Consul of the United Kingdom in Limón from 1896-1901.[6]

In 1907, the brothers entered the coffee business, starting with the purchase of Juan Viñas, a vast sugar and coffee farm from Federico Tinoco Granados.[7] They continued purchasing properties and soon became largest coffee and sugar producers in the country.[8][9] In 1908, the brothers founded the Florida Ice and Farm Company.

By 1911, the Lindo properties were producing half of Costa Rica's bananas, and Joseph DiGiorgio, on behalf of the Atlantic Fruit Company, approached Lindo Bros with idea of purchasing all of their banana plantations, although the entire production was contracted to United Fruit Company until July, 1914.[10]

On October 27, 1911, Cecil gave the Atlantic Fruit Company an option to purchase their banana plantations for $3,500,000 before August, 1912. Cecil was to be the General Manager of the Atlantic Fruit Company in Costa Rica.[11][12]

The company could not or would not execute the option, and in 1912, the Lindo's was sold the properties to United Fruit Company that year for $5,000,000.[13][14][15]

By 1913, the Lindo brothers were owners of vast sugar, coffee and cocoa estates, lumber and flour mills, breweries, ice-making and aerated factories. They operated 7,000 acres of Coffee plantations, which were producing and exporting three millions pounds of coffee each year, with an approximate value of half a million dollars.

Jamaica

In 1914, Lindo Bros & Co. Ltd. was formed in Jamaica began to purchase large agricultural properties in Jamaica

They began planting bananas in partnership with their cousins, the deLisser Brothers and on their own behalf.[16][17]

In 1916 Lindo Bros & Co. bought Appleton Estate and J. Wray and Nephew Ltd. in 1917.[18]

In 1925 the Lindo Bros, in partnership with Allan Keeling, invested £1,000,000 in the establishment of the Bernard Lodge Central Sugar Factory.[19]

In 1928, the Lindo Bros sold 56,600 acres of land St. Catherine & Clarendon to the United Fruit Company for £2,000,000, which at the time, was the largest transaction in the history of the island.[20] That year Cecil purchased Devon House from Reginald Melhado.[21][22]

In Who's Who in 1938 we are told his philanthropies were in the region of £60,000 annually in Jamaica alone, a considerable sum when a three bedroom house would cost £2-3000.

References
  1. Lori, Ann (2004-03-22). "Jamaica". Jamaicans.com. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  2. Jordan, Sarah (2021-09-26). "Minor Keith and the History of Costa Rica's Train to Limon". The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  3. Shields, Enid (1991). Devon House Families. Ian Randle Publishers. ISBN 978-976-8100-02-3.
  4. Miscellaneous Series. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1922.
  5. Güell, Tomás Soley (1926). Historia monetaria de Costa Rica (in Spanish). Imprenta nacional.
  6. The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book. Harrison. 1898.
  7. "Juan Viñas". www.juanvinas.com. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  8. Putnam, Lara Elizabeth (2000). Public Women and One-pant Men: Labor Migration and the Politics of Gender in Caribbean Costa Rica, 1870-1960. University of Michigan. ISBN 978-0-599-83301-2.
  9. Murchie, Anita Gregorio (1981). Imported Spices: A Study of Anglo-American Settlers in Costa Rica, 1821-1900. Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Department of Publications.
  10. Fisheries, United States Congress House Committee on Merchant Marine and (1913). Proceedings of the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries in the Investigation of Shipping Combinations Under House Resolution 587. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  11. Fisheries, United States Congress House Committee on Merchant Marine and (1913). Proceedings of the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries in the Investigation of Shipping Combinations Under House Resolution 587. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  12. Times, Special to The New York (1912-05-31). "$3,000,000 SUIT FILED.; Possession Demanded of Costa Rican Banana Plantations". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  13. Fisheries, United States Congress House Committee on Merchant Marine and (1913). Investigation of So-called Shipping Combine. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  14. Fisheries, United States Congress House Committee on Merchant Marine and (1913). Proceedings of the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries in the Investigation of Shipping Combinations Under House Resolution 587. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  15. Navarrete, José Manuel Salazar (1996). La gran serpiente verde: novela de la región atlántica caribeña (in Spanish). EUNED. ISBN 978-9977-64-888-0.
  16. Jamaica's Banana Industry: A History of the Banana Industry with Particular Reference to the Part Played by the Jamaica Banana Producers Association, Ltd. The Association. 1984.
  17. Higman, B. W.; Aarons, George A.; Karklins, Karlis (1998). Montpelier, Jamaica: A Plantation Community in Slavery and Freedom, 1739-1912. Press University of the West Indies. ISBN 978-976-640-075-0.
  18. Higman, B. W. (2008). Jamaican Food: History, Biology, Culture. University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 978-976-640-205-1.
  19. American Sugar Industry. R. Palmer. 1929.
  20. American Sugar Industry. R. Palmer. 1929.
  21. "A Special Gleaner Feature on Pieces of the Past - Devon House -The first 500 years in Jamaica". old.jamaica-gleaner.com. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  22. Higman, B. W.; Aarons, George A.; Karklins, Karlis (1998). Montpelier, Jamaica: A Plantation Community in Slavery and Freedom, 1739-1912. Press University of the West Indies. ISBN 978-976-640-075-0.
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