J B Were and Son was founded by Jonathan Binns Were who commenced business as a merchant and shipping agent soon after he arrived at the Port Phillip settlement from England in November 1839. He was one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the first Stock Exchange in Melbourne in 1859. Known as Were Brothers and Company from 1840, the company adopted the title J B Were and Son on 1 October 1861. On J B Were's death in 1885, his son Francis Wellington Were was senior partner until 1916 when control passed to Francis Joseph Fleming, William Foster Geach and Staniforth Ricketson, a great grandson of J B Were. In 1943 John Goodhall and Company merged with J B Were and Son. The company listed its services to clients in 1954 as: Commonwealth bonds, public body loans, underwriting, venture capital, brokerage and research. The company is now called JBWere Limited.