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Andrew James Symington, a Scotsman, travelled to Oporto in 1882 at the age of 18 to work for the Grahams, another Scottish family long established in Portugal. Not long after, ‘AJS’ left to work on his own in the Port trade, where he gradually built up a reputation as an expert taster. In 1894 he conducted the famous Burnay Port sale on behalf of the Portuguese Government. By 1905 he had become a partner in Warre & Co, the first and oldest British Port company established in Portugal, and in a few years he became the company’s sole owner.
Curiously, at this time the Warre family, who were the principal owners of Dow’s, |
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| had no remaining interest in the company that bore its name. In 1912, Dow’s senior partner, George A. Warre decided to return to England and invited AJS to manage the Douro Valley vineyards of Dow, its lodges and stocks in Gaia. In the same year, a share swap took place whereby AJS took a 30% stake in Dow’s and ‘GAW’ took, in return, shares in Warre & Co.
The successful partnership between the Symingtons as Port producers in the Douro and Gaia and the Warre’s in London looking after sales, lasted for half a century until 1961 when the Symingtons finally became the sole owners of Dow’s. |
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Andrew James Symington |
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