Charles Alexander Tomes

Charles Alexander Tomes was born on October 25, 1854, in New York City. He was the eldest son of Eleanor Tomes (née Hadden), born in 1820 and died in 1894, and Francis Tomes Jr., who was born in 1813 and died in 1898. His father was a prominent merchant, owning a large Victorian mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, designed by Calvert Vaux with landscape work by Frederick Law Olmsted, until 1877. His paternal grandparents were Maria (née Roberts) Tomes and Francis Tomes Sr., born in Chipping Campden, England. His uncle was Robert Tomes, a physician and diplomat. His maternal grandparents were Ann (née Aspinwall) Hadden and David Hadden, a merchant of Scottish birth who resided in New York for most of his life.

Tomes attended St. John's School in Sing Sing, New York, before matriculating at Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1871. His father's business, Francis Tomes & Co., was an importing firm established in 1815 by his grandfather, and it operated in New York until the 1940s.

In October 1877, Charles Alexander Tomes was admitted to his father's firm at 6 Maiden Lane in New York. However, the business suffered bankruptcy during the economic downturn of the 1870s, despite its success during the Civil War era. Between 1887 and 1888, Tomes made a global journey before relocating to Shanghai and subsequently Hong Kong, employing a recommendation from John Murray Forbes.

In 1879, Tomes commenced working for Russell & Company in Hong Kong, one of the leading mercantile firms in the Far East at the time. He was admitted as a partner in 1885. The firm went bankrupt in 1891, ceasing operations in 1892. Following this, Tomes and Robert Shewan acquired the remnants of Russell & Company, rebranding it as Shewan, Tomes & Co. in 1895, with Tomes serving as the company's Tai-pan.

Tomes and Shewan contributed to various initiatives, including helping to establish the China Light and Power Company in 1901, and the Pan-American Steamship Company, which operated steamship routes between the United States, China, Japan, and the Philippines.

On March 20, 1890, Tomes married Harriot Constance Budd Hancock at St. John's Cathedral in Hong Kong. Harriot was the daughter of Alfred Hancock of Scotland and Harriot Elizabeth Rider (née Budd). The couple resided at "Gough Hill" on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, and also maintained a residence at 993 Park Avenue, New York City, which was constructed by Bing & Bing. Together, they had five children: Alexander Hadden Tomes Sr., born in 1891; Gertrude Margaret Tomes, born in 1893; Francis H. Tomes; Hetty E. Tomes; and Joan Elspeth Tomes (1901–1980). Joan married Arthur Baldwin, 3rd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, in 1936. Alexander Hadden Tomes Sr. married Elizabeth St John Whiting in 1921; Gertrude married Major R. D. Crawford in 1916; Francis married Lelia Baldwin in 1931.

Charles Alexander Tomes was affiliated with the Harvard Club and the University Club. He passed away on July 28, 1933, in Lossiemouth, Scotland. After his death, some of his possessions were acquired by the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. He was a grandfather to Edward Baldwin, 4th Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (1938–2021), who was among the hereditary peers remaining after the House of Lords Act 1999.