Ludvig Verner Helms [SEP] date of death
Ludvig Verner Helms
Ludvig Verner Helms (1825 – 1918) was a trader and merchant associated with the Far East, especially the Borneo Company in Sarawak.
Born in Varde, Denmark, he left for Bali in 1846, sailing via the Cape and Singapore. He had letters of introduction to Mads Lange and worked for him until 1849. He went briefly to China, then to California in 1850, but ended up taking up an offer from some Singapore merchants to trade on their behalf in Sarawak, after a mission
Smith, Francis Richardson, and John Harvey (the latter two of MacEwan & Co. in Singapore). The Hendersons had been early backers of the Eastern Archipelago Company but pulled out before its incorporation. Its first manager in Sarawak was a Dane, Ludvig Verner Helms, who had been trading there on his own account since 1852. The commercial hub of the company was, however, in Singapore, and businesses were soon also opened in Thailand, and then Indonesia and Hong Kong. The company was given the mandate to "