The Anglo-British Columbia Packing Company (A.B.C. Packing Co.) was founded by Henry O. Bell-Irving in 1890. Recognizing the advantages in consolidation, Mr. Bell-Irving secured options on several British Columbia fish canneries in the fall of 1890. Mr. Bell-Irving then went to England to raise the required capital, and on December 22, 1890 formed the Anglo-British Columbia Packing Company to acquire and operate the canneries. The company was registered in London in April 1891, and in the same year completed the purchase of seven Fraser River canneries and two more on the Skeena River. In 1891, the company accounted for more than one quarter of British Columbia's total salmon pack, and was the foremost packer of sockeye salmon in the world. Mr. Bell-Irving and his partner R.P. Paterson acted as Canadian agents for the company until 1901 when their firm Bell-Irving & Paterson dissolved. At that time, Mr. Bell-Irving incorporated H. Bell-Irving & Company Limited to act as Canadian agent. The company stayed in the Bell-Irving family for three generations; after the death of Henry Bell-Irving, his son Richard Bell-Irving became President of H. Bell-Irving & Company, and was appointed a Director of the Anglo-British Columbia Packing Company. He was succeeded by his son Ian Bell-Irving in 1962. In 1969, the company announced that it would close out its British Columbia operations.