These files consist of two different series 4/1-8 being bound volumes of flimsy copies of letters from John Swire & Sons London to Butterfield & Swire Hong Kong and Shanghai for 1900 to 1914; 4/9-28 being correspondence between John Swire & Sons and Butterfield & Swire Hong Kong and Shanghai. Both series concern China Navigation Company [CNCo] owned go-downs, wharfs, houses and equipment and cover the purchase, leasing, planning, building, maintenance and selling of property. While Shanghai dealt with China Navigation Company property in the city itself, in the coastal ports and on the Yangtze River, Hong Kong was responsible for its own property, Canton and Japan.4/9-28 have good indexes, 4/9-18 being arranged chronologically with a subject synopsis and 4/19-28 arranged by subject under Hong Kong or Shanghai 4/1-8 do not have such clear indexes and each volume has a different lay-out, often very muddled.
Further papers relating to CNCo property can be found in JSSI 6/1-5 and legal papers concerning deeds, purchase etc in JSSIII 8
Series also includes property registers.