Education
Boite Postale.
Boite Postale.
Born at Maryton, by Montrose, in Angus, Scotland, Cargill briefly worked in Glasgow before moving to Ceylon where he established a department store in Colombo. In 1876 he acquired the Glasgow-based Rangoon Oil Company which was engaged in unprofitable downstream oil activities in Burma. Learning from this experience he established Burmah Oil to acquire oil prospecting licences in Upper Burma, passing on ownership to Sir Campbell Kirkman Finlay in the late 1890s, who expanded the business into one of the largest oil companies trading from the United Kingdom.
He died in Carruth, Bridge of Weir, in 1904.
