MANUEL EARNSHAW (1862 – 1936)
Because OF HIS “ardent nationalism and proven competence as a financer”, Manuel Eranshaw, scion of a distinguished Cavite family, was elected by the Philippine Assembly as resident commissioner to the United States on November 12, 1912. He replaced Benito Legarda, a prominent member of the pro – American Federal Party and an appointee of Governor William Howard Taft. Legarda’s appointment was opposed by the Assembly for his being “against complete and immediate independence of the Philippines.” The other Filipino resident commissioner to Washington at the time was Manuel L. Quezon, former majority floor leader of the Assembly.
Manuel Earnshaw was the elder brother of Tomas Earnshaw, former mayor of Manila. He was born in the old Cavite town on November 19, 1882, to the wealthy couple Daniel Earnshaw and Gavina Noguera. Manuel studied at the Ateneo de Manila and later acquired practical experience in the Spanish Navy Yard in Cavite. He then worked in the machine shops of Wilkes & Earnshaw, Manila, a firm partly owned by his father. Afterwards he held successively the positions of engineer – director in Earnshaw & Company and port administrator of Manila (1885); engineer of the Spanish government minting plant (1887); manager, Wilkes and Boyle (1888); technical director of the same company. (1891)
The following year became a stockholder of Boyle and Co., holding the position of engineer – director until 1901, after which he founded his own company, the Manuel Earnshaw and Co. I 1901, he changed the name of the firm to Manuel Earnshaw and Co., Ltd. His business continued expanding, and in 1912 he founded the Earnshaw Slipways and Engineering Company with a capitalization of P 1,600,000.
A well – traveled man, Earnshaw toured the Europe, the United States, Australia, Japan, China, and Canada. He was founder and president of the sports club Tiro el Blanco; president of Club Filipino; member of the Manila Polo Club, Cosmopolitan Gun Club, Country Club of Baguio. His Manila address was 288 Alhambra Street, Ermita.
(Source: (1) Directorio Oficial de la Asamblea Filipina.. Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1915; and (2) Teodoro A. Agoncillo and Milagros C. Guererro, History of the Filipino People, Quezon City, Malaya Books, Inc.m 1970]