Pedro Regalado Ximeno de la Riva
y García was born in Vilagarcía de Araousa, Galicia, on 13 May 1777, son of Francisco
Ximeno de la Riva who worked as mayordomo for the Marqués de Vilagarcía, and
Antonia García. He joined the
merchant marine, eventually becoming a ship’s captain and making frequent
voyages to North America. There he struck up a friendship with the merchants Harmony Brothers to whom he often brought cargoes from Europe, and they became such
close friends that one of the brothers adopted Pedro as his brother. Pedro
then changed his name to Pedro X Harmony, but due to his immense pride at being
Spanish, he never changed his nationality.
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| Pedro Harmony (foto:patrimoniovilagarcia.com) |
On the death of the brothers, Pedro inherited
their fortunes and ever growing business, becoming fabulously wealthy. As his mainly
transatlantic business grew, including Mexico, he called upon members of his
family, mainly nieces and nephews – he never married - to work in senior
positions. The firm was now trading as Peter (Pedro) Harmony and Nephews, and grew
to gigantic proportions. He bought large bodegas in the Campo de
Guia area of El Puerto in the Calle Valdes which he called, confusingly, Bodegas Pedro Ximénez, as he was known
in Andalucia. To avoid confusion this was changed to Bodegas P Harmony.
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| A Harmony Card (foto:gentedelpuerto) |
In 1849 Pedro retired but the firm retained his
name. When he died in 1851, he left a vast fortune. To his nieces Benita,
Antonia, Lorena and Agustina he left various New York properties and a quarter
each of the bodega, which now traded as Sobrinos de P Harmony. Many other
nieces and nephews inherited property in America and Spain along with money,
bonds and shares. He left his sister in law, Isidra Carrera, his house in Cádiz
at Plaza de la Constitucion, 3, (now Plaza de San Antonio, 8, built in 1808 and
now owned by the National University of distance Learning.
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| An old Harmony leaflet (elpuertoysusbodegas) |
Pedro had a brother, Francisco Ximeno, who was
married to Isidra Carrera in 1826 in Cadiz. Francisco was also a highly successful
sailor and merchant and later a member of the powerful Cadiz mercantile company
Carreras y Cia as well as owning his own company Harmony y Cia. He had also
assumed the surname Harmony and ran the bodegas under the name FX Harmony y
sobrinos till he died in 1850 when other family members took over guided by his
widow Isidra, when the name changed to Viuda (widow) de X Harmony then Sobrinos
de X Harmony. Her nephew Pedro Hernández Carrera ran things latterly.
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| Fino Perendengues (which means cheap earrings!) foto:todocoleccion |
In 1856 Harmony was the 5th biggest
exporter in El Puerto but the mid-1860s brought falling sales and many bodegas
failed. At some point towards the end of
the 1860s or early 1870s Harmony was sold to John William Burdon – the biggest
exporter in 1856. Having no children to leave his business to, Burdon sold out
to José de la Cuesta who was in turn bought out by Luis Caballero in 1932.
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| (foto:todocoleccion) |
I find this so interesting! One or more of my Spanish family members were employed by Peter Harmony
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