Ravensway and Company

Advertisements Column 2

The Singapore Daily Times, 30 July 1881, Page 2

NOTICE.

The undersigned having purchased the Stock in Trade, hearses, &c. of the undertaking business hitherto carried on under the name of J. STREIFF & Co. intends from this date to continue the business at No. 543 Orchard Road, under the name of J. C. v. RAVENSWAY & Co. and will give prompt attention to all orders for funerals, tombstones, and all other work connected with the business.

J. C. VAN RAVENSWAY & Co.

Singapore, 18th July, 1881. (to 18th Aug.)

PICTURESQUE SINGAPORE.

The Straits Budget, 5 October 1897, Page 10

MESSRS. RAVENSWAY AND CO. Messrs. Ravensway and Co. are a very old established firm of undertakers and marble merchants, whose office and

works are in Orchard Road.

Much excellent work is turned out in the

direction of monumental masonry. The splendid monument which has been erected to the memory of the victims of the massacres at Foochow in August, 1895, was re-constructed here, and gave unqualified satisfaction. There has recently been formed a company known as the Perak Marble Company, Limited, of which Mr. Ravensway is a director. Much of the marble quarried at Perak will be worked at Mr. Ravensway's establishment, where some of the most improved European machinery has of late been installed. Many orders for marble, in the form of slabs for tables loors, stairs, dc., are being received

from America and other distant places 

Page 2 Advertisements Column 2

Singapore Free Press And Mercantile Advertiser, 24 August 1909, Page 2

NOTICE
RE RAVENSWAY & COMPANY.

I, the undersigned Jacob Cornelis van Ravensway, hereby give notice that the business of an Undertaker and Monumental Mason formerly carried on by me on premises No. 187, Orchard Road, under the style of “Ravensway and Company” has been sold and assigned by me as from the first day of June last to Victor L. Neubronner and others, who will continue to carry on the business in partnership under the same style and upon the same premises.

And I hereby give notice that I am not responsible for any debts or liabilities of the firm of Ravensway and Company incurred after the first day of June last, and that I have no longer any share or interest in the said business.

Dated this sixteenth day of August, 1909.
J. C. van RAVENSWAY.

With reference to the above, notice is hereby given that the marble statues, tombstones, worked marble and granite upon the premises No. 187, Orchard Road, were not included in the sale above mentioned but still belong to the said Jacob Cornelis van Ravensway and are in the custody of the firm of Ravensway and Company as selling agents on behalf of the said Jacob Cornelis van Ravensway.

Dated this sixteenth day of August, 1909.
J. C. van RAVENSWAY.
RAVENSWAY & Co.,
V. L. NEUBRONNER, Manager.

Aug 19

DEATH OF MR RAVENSWAY.

Singapore Free Press And Mercantile Advertiser, 19 February 1919, Page 9

Mr Jacob Cornelius Von Raveneway, late manager of the Ipoh Marble Works, died at his residence in Anderson Road Ipoh, on Thureday night, and his funeral took place on Friday at the Ipoh Cemetery. Mr A C Valpy performed the religious rites in the absence of a Protestant minister and Meeere James Berry and A Nelson were the only mourners. Mr Ravensway, who was Dutch, was over 90 years of age, and came to Singapore about 60 years ago. Before that he was  connected with the tobacco industry in Sumatra. In 1881 he established the firm of Messrs Ravensway and Co in Singapore and later took over the manager ship of the Ipoh Marble Works until two years ago, being succeeded by Mr Rand and then by Mr Nelson. He lived a very quiet life and it is not known if he had any relatives in his own country or elsewhere. 

Malayan Marble.

Malaya Tribune, 24 February 1919, Page 7

The local paper thus “booms” the Ipoh Marble Works: The announcement of the death last week of Mr Jacob C Von Ravensway recalls a highly interesting industrial venture which, in the year just before the outbreak of war, aroused a remarkable degree of interest throughout Malaya. This was the organisation of a scheme to develop on a full scale the large and important sources of fine marble that abounds in Perak, and especially in the Ipoh district. Now that the development of Imperial resources is a matter of such importance a review of this matter should be as significant as it is interesting.

Mr Ravensway was a Dutchman who came to the F M S over half a century ago. Before that he was in Sumatra and was connected with the tobacco industry there. He came to Singapore when he was about 40, and did considerable business in tin and rubber. In 1881 he established the firm of Messrs Ravensway and Co., whose Singapore branch was at 187 Orchard Road. They kept a large stock of monuments, tombstones, and marble work of all descriptions and a staff of about 40 or 50 masons was employed. About this time Mr Ravensway had a good run of luck not only owing to the flourishing condition of his business, but owing to his success in a local lottery. He came in for a large amount of money, some of which he put into the German firm of Messrs Behn Meyer and Co. The marble used in Mr Ravensway’s factory went there from Ipoh, where a Mr Jassen of Behn Meyer & Co. had opened a marble works. These works were eventually taken over by Mr Ravensway himself in 1905, and the latter came frequently to supervise the work.

Under his charge, the works did not seem to yield much profit, and in 1914 by an agreement signed between Mr Ravensway of the one part, and Mr James Berry of Ipoh on behalf of a company of the other, the Ipoh Marble and Lime Works Syndicate, Ltd, was floated. The first subscribers were:—Messrs S J Angwood, Oscar S Dawbarn, Mrs M A J Ivens, Messrs R P Brash, James Berry, Chang Tet Ngean, and F B Ivens. The capital of the Company was $35,750 divided into 501 A class shares of $50 each and 214 B class shares of $50 each. All the B class shares were allotted to Mr Ravensway in accordance with the terms of the agreement, but they carried no voting power so long as they were held by him. Thus the company was launched, and Mr Ravensway continued virtually to be manager until two years ago when he had to retire owing to failing health.

Mr Ravensway knew full well the possibilities of the industry, hence on several occasions he turned down offers for his B class shares. Unfortunately, however, the industry seems to have been languishing. It requires expert advice and that has not been easily procurable. Two years ago, however, the company secured the services of Mr A Nelson, the present manager, who has had experience in the business in America. Since Mr Nelson took up the management the work seems to have been progressing and it bids fair to develop into a most important local industry.

Visit to the Quarries.

The industry is of such importance that in any other country but British Malaya it would have even been encouraged by Government. Still, to business men outside the Government it will undoubt edly appeal as a sound business proposition. A representative of the Times of Malaya, who visited the marble works and quarries, was struck by the information that the Ipoh Marble Works was the only marble works in the East. The marble quarried here is of the best quality and of different colours—white black, pink, black and white, blue and black, etc. The world famous Italian marble is the best for the sculptor’s work, but the marble quarried in Ipoh is supposed to be the best in the world for flooring purposes, for graves and tombstones, and for table tops, and a considerable output in this form has been made for some time past both for Malaya as well as India.

The marble quarried here is cut, polished, and moulded by steam driven machinery of modern type. Even a hurried visit to the factory, where one can see the rock being treated by sand and water before being cut, and where one is given a glimpse of the entire process which marble tops on various kinds of furniture have to undergo from the time the rock is hewn out of the side of the cliff until it leaves the polishers’ hands, is an immensely interesting process to watch.

Many people will regard marble as a luxury but it is no exaggeration to say that luxuries will always find a place in every home. Besides marble is not so much a luxury as a convenience. There is no doubt a great demand for marble in Eastern countries. Many firms in Singapore, etc, have been importing marble articles from Italy, but they have invariably found about 40 per cent of their consignment damaged to some extent or other. Apart from the liability to damage, Italian marble has been difficult to obtain and will become increasingly expensive when reconstruction begins. There is not the slightest reason why people should go to Italy for their marble tiles, etc, when the same article can be produced here at much cheaper cost.

There seems to be absolutely no waste at the factory. The broken parts of marble slabs are broken up and crushed and supplied to the P W D and the Sanitary Board for metalling purposes. Some time ago a lime kiln was started on the premises, but it did not prove much of a success owing to the high cost of firewood. The business is capable of being extended much further. The company possesses a large tract of land which can be put to various uses.

Owing to the recent influenza epidemic there has been a shortage of labour at the works and several orders had to be refused. The company has a railway siding of its own next to the factory, and has every facility for executing orders. Several Chinese workmen, skilled in marble cutting and carving, are employed and a large number of Tamil coolies are engaged in breaking and crushing stones for metalling purposes.

MALAYA’S MARBLE FACTORY.
The Straits Times, 16 October 1924, Page 9

Ipoh, October 16.

The only marble factory in Malaya, the Ipoh Marble Works, has come under the hammer. They were originally established by Mr. Ravensway, a Dutchman from Singapore, about 15 years ago. An expensive plant was installed and soon supplied the demands here and in India with an excellent quality of marble. Latterly they passed into the hands of a local syndicate, but trade declined and they were auctioned yesterday to meet a debt to the Chartered Bank. They were bought by the bank for $10,000. The future of the factory is uncertain.