ROBERT BENNET FORBES Biography - Bussiness people and enterpreneurs

 
 

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ROBERT BENNET FORBES

Name: Robert Bennet Forbes                                                           
Born: September 18, 1804                                                             
Died: November 23, 1889                                                               
                                                                                       
                                                                                       
Captain Robert Bennet Forbes (September 18, 1804-November 23, 1889), was a sea       
captain, China merchant, ship owner, and writer. He was born in Jamaica Plain,       
near Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Ralph Bennet and Margaret (Perkins)           
Forbes, and brother of John Murray Forbes. As a member of the Forbes family of       
Boston, much of his wealth was derived from the opium and China trade and he         
played a prominent role in the outbreak of the Opium War. Despite the ethical         
problems of dealing in opium, he was known to engage in humanitarian activities,     
such as commandeering the USS Jamestown to send food to Irish famine sufferers       
in 1847.