Signatories on the Banco de Londres y México notes
Interventor
Pedro Landázuri was appointed Interventor on 13 October 1886informe of interventor Landázuri, 27 July 1897 in Memoria de las Instituciones de Crédito, correspondientes a los años 1897-1898-1899, tomo I. Landázuri was born in Guadajalara, Jalisco on 28 January 1832. A member of the Liberal party, he fought against the French as a colonel and was President Lerdo de Tejada’s private secretary. He joined the Consular Service in 1874 and served in Germany from 1874 to 1878. He was a state deputy in Jalisco 1867–1868, federal deputy from Jalisco 1869-1871, federal deputy from San Luis Potosí 1878-1880 and from Jalisco 1886-1905. He died on 29 November 1905. |
![]() |
|
![]() |
Francisco Cortina é Icaza was born in Mexico City on 25 June 1841 and was a member of the city’s economic and political elite. His daughter, Guadalupe Cortina Cuevas married Andrés Bermejillo, the son of José María Bermejillo. Cortina Icaza was Interventor of the Banco Central Mexicano but transferred to the Banco de Londres y México in May 1906 when the previous holder resignedThe Mexican Herald, Vol. XXII, No. 83, 22 May 1906. He died in Mexico City on 1 January 1915. |
![]() |
M. Elguera | ![]() |
Cajero
Herbert Champion Jones was born in Croydon, England in 1864 to William Anastasius Jones, an early director of the Banco de Londres, México y Sud América, and Catherine Susanna Valentine Bates. He passed away on 11 January 1910 in Mexico City. |
![]() |
R. Herrera Zamora | ![]() |
Julio Aspel | ![]() |
Consejero
Andres Bermejillo was also a Director of la Casa de Cambio y Comisión and vicepresident of the Compañía Minera Los Peñoles. |
![]() |
Manuel González Cosío | ![]() |
José Sánchez Ramos and Thomas Braniff organized the joint-stock company, San Rafael y Anexas, S. A., on 1 March 1894, with an initial issue of one million pesos in stock. In 1897 the company raised its capital to 1.5 million and in 1898 to five million. San Rafael undertook an aggressive strategy of mergers that gave the firm a monopoly in the production of newsprint, the most lucrative product line in the paper marketTómas Braniff and his partner, José Sánchez Ramos, installed a 10-ton hydro-electric propelled paper factory at the foot of the Iztaccihuatl volcano, and immediately in the centre of the raw material as represented by a vast area of virgin forest. On Tómas’ death his two sons, Oscar and Tómas, entered upon the management of the company, while they were joined by Julio M. Limantour, The whole of the Company's important water-power concessions were developed, the capacity of the factory was doubled, and the best English, Norwegian and German paper-makers were placed at the head of the technical departments, which, in conjunction with the practical administration of José de la Macorra, the general manager, brought about a complete transformation in the paper-manufacturing industry of Mexico. The San Rafael Paper Works produced enough paper, of all grades, to supply the general market of Mexico. San Rafael y Anexas acquired several other factories: in Belén, Santa Teresa and Zavaleta, in Puebla, and El Progreso Industrial in the Estado de México. Its board over time included Henri (Enrique) Tron, Thomas Braniff, Porfirio Díaz, jr., Fernando Pimental y Fagoaga, and Julio M. Limantour. Sánchez Ramos was also involved in the Compañía Banco Refaccionario de Chihuahua, Caja de Préstamos para Obras de Irrigación, and the mining companies Socavón de San Fernando, Santa Inés y la Nueva, San Luis El Moral, Compañía Beneficiadora de Metales de Zacualpan. |
![]() |
As well as his interest in the Banco de Londres y México he was a member of the Banco Central Mexicano and Compañía Bancaria de Paris y México. He also was a shareholder in the Compañía Industrial de Orizaba, S.A., the Fábrica de Papel San Rafael, the Compañia Industrial San Idelfonso, the Compañia Eléctrica e Irrigadora del Estado de Hidalgo, the Compañia Ferrocarril Eléctrico de Lerdo, the Compañia Manufacturera de Jabón La Unión, and the Fundición de Fierro y Acero de MonterreyThe first steel company in all of Latin America, La Fundidora de Fierro y Acero de Monterrey was launched in 1903 by the major local families and some foreign capital represented by the French Leon Honorat and León Signoret, the Spaniard Antonio Basagoiti and the American Thomas Braniff. . Thanks to this last company Signoret was linked with members of a powerful group of industrialists in the north of the country, such as Vicente Ferrara and Patricio Milmo. Signoret was known to have close ties to the Porfiristas, particularly Finance Minister Limantour, who was also a Barcelonnette. He died in Barcelonnette, France, on 30 August 1919. |
![]() |
Remigio Noriega | ![]() |
Francisco Espinosa | ![]() |
![]() Thomas (Tomás) H. Braniff for a detailed account of his family see María del Carmen Collado, La Burguesía Mexicana. El emporio Braniff y su participación política 1865-1920, México, 1987 was born on Staten Island, New York, in 1830, the son of Irish immigrants. In 1863 he came to Mexico as a senior employee of Smith Knight & Company to work on the construction of the Mexico-Veracruz railway. When emperor Maximilian was defeated Braniff managed to become a shareholder, and in 1874 a director of the railroad company, a position he retained until his death. He was one of the business magnates of his time, investing heavily through his corporations in the most dynamic and up-to-date industries of the day, for example in 1890 in the Compañía Fundidora de Fierro y Acero de Monterrey. In 1891 in partnership with Juan B. Ebrard, José Spitalier, José Sánchez Ramos, Roberto Núñez and Fernando Pimentel y Fagoaga he formed the Fábrica de Papel San Rafael y Anexas S.A., owing 33% of the shares. In 1892 he became associated with a group of prosperous French merchants, Enrique Tron, Eugenio Roux and J.B. Ebrard, to integrate the San Lorenzo factory, the factory of Cerritos and Río Blanco, into the Compañía Industrial de Orizaba S.A., the largest textile company in the country. He was a minor investor in the Compañía Eléctrica e Irrigadora in the state of Hidalgo, in the Compañía Cigarrera el Buen Tono, and in the Fábrica de Tejidos San Ildefonso, a producer of wool textiles. His investments in real estate were also large, owning many lots on both sides of Paseo de la Reforma. Braniff had shares in the Banco de Londres y México and in the Banco Internacional e Hipotecario. Braniff increased his capital thanks to his excellent relationship with President Diaz and his closest associates, and also with Mexico's Barcelonnettes, an important group of investors born in the Valley of Barcelonnette, France. The alliance with this French group helped him to find financial support from their Société Financière pour l’industrie du Mexique, a company that placed shares in Paris and Geneva. Braniff had five sons and one daughter. George married into the Lascuráins, an entrepreneurial and political family; Óscar married Guadalupe Cánovas, owner of the Hacienda de Jalpa estate in Guanajuato; Tomás married Elena Amor, heir to the Hacienda de Monte Blanco estate in Veracruz; Arturo married into the wealthy Garamendi family; and Alberto married the well-to-do Luz Franyutti. Braniff s daughter, Lorenza, married Spanish noble Luis Bermejillo, the Marquis of Mohernando, who was related to the Mexican branch of the entrepreneurial Bermejillo family, which helped found the Partido Católico. When he died in 1905, he left a fortune of over nine million pesos. |
![]() |
He was president of the French Chamber of Commerce in Mexico. He was part of the monetary commission that worked with the Minister of Finance José Yves Limantour, during the government of Porfirio Díaz (1876-1910). He was also an advisor to the French Ministry of Foreign Trade and a Knight of the Legion of Honour from 1906. |
![]() |
He was a federal deputy from Oaxaca (1884 – 1894 and 1896 – 1912) or from Guanajuato for the two years 1894 – 1896. He served as President of Congress in 1898 and 1906. He was a leader of the Científicos and supported Ramón Corral as a successor to Porfirio Díaz. He was on the board of the Pan American Company and of Pan American Railway. He died on 13 September 1914. |
![]() |
Jules Tron | ![]() |
José Spitalier | ![]() |
Ignacio de la Torre y Mier was President Díaz' son-in-law. Ignacio de la Torre was involved in the Compañía Cigarrera Mexicana, Colonizadora de la Costa Oriental de Yucatán, and Mina Alacrán. He also shared partnerships with Weetman Pearson, and John Brittingham. |
![]() |
José Sainz | ![]() |
Enrique Domenge | ![]() |
Gerente
Waters was general manager until 1899. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Francisco Yarza In January 1909, when Francisco Yarza resignedin January 1909 to be replaced by Guillermo Höpfner and William Bain MitchellEl Tiempo, 6 January 1909. |
![]() |
William Bain Mitchell | ![]() |
Sub-gerente
Guillermo Höpfner In January 1909, when Francisco Yarza resigned as manager, the Junta Directiva decided that he should be replaced by Guillermo Höpfner and William B. Mitchell as joint SubgerentesEl Tiempo, 6 January 1909. In June 1916 Höpfner was arrested and sent to prision for refusing to accept notes of forced circulation but released when he, and his board promised to accept them. However, a few days later, on 16 June, Höpfner and the bank’s boardJustino Tron, Emilio Pimental, Mariano Alegre, Enrique Domenge, Salvador M. Cancino, Augusto Gemini José Sáinz, Félix Martino, Javier Olivera, Alfredo Noriega, Federico Proal. V. Eleoro avoided imprisonment because he was sick were summoned to a meeting with the Comandante Militar, General Hill, as they were refusing to accept Veracruz notes in payment of a debt and demanding silver or gold or some other currency that gave them a sufficient guarantee. When they refused to accept Veracruz notes they were sent to prisonEl Pueblo, Año III, Tomo I, Núm. 590, 17 June 1916. By 1920 Höpfner was Contador of the Credito Español de México. S. A.Boletín de la Cámara Central Agrícola de México, Tomo I, Núm. 3, September 1920. |
![]() |