Magniac was born on 15 April 1786 in
Colworth House, Bedfordshire, the son of Colonel Francis Magniac (1751-1823) and Frances Attwood. goldsmith who exported clocks and watches to China. In order to keep an eye on his business interests there, he dispatched his son Charles to Canton where he went into partnership with
Daniel Beale, an experienced China merchant, forming Beale, Magniac & Co. sometime before 1814. Before the removal of the
East India Company's monopoly on British trade with India and the Far East in 1834, the Scots-born seaman John Reid, a partner in Cox & Beale, discovered a way to circumvent the East India Company's jurisdiction. He took out Austrian citizenship and gained an appointment as Chinese Consul from the Emperor of Austria. Wishing to leave Asia, Hollingworth went in search of competent partners to join his firm. whose business reputation was already well known throughout Asia. Magniac and Jardine also invited
James Matheson to join the firm. Magniac returned to England in 1828 with the firm in the hands of two of the most talented traders in Asia. Contrary to the practice at the time of retiring partners removing their capital from the firm, Hollingworth left his capital in trust to Jardine and Matheson. The firm remained as Magniac and Co. until 1832, which would go on to become the largest
trading company in Asia and later a
Fortune 500 listed company. Magniac married Helen Sampson, daughter of Peter Sampson, in 1827. ==Medieval art collection==