Jacobo Z. Zóbel (1842–1896) Jácobo Zangroniz Zóbel was the son of Jácobo Hirsch Zóbel (né Jakob Sobel) and Ana Maria Zangróniz-Zobel (daughter of a justice at the
Real Audiencia of Manila, who had come from an old Navarrese/Basque family.) He was born on the 12th of October, 1842, and was the first Zóbel born in the Philippines. His grandfather, Johannes Andreas Sobel, arrived in the Philippines from Hamburg, Germany in 1832, together with his wife, Cornelia Hirsch-Zobel, and their son, Jacob Hirsch Zóbel (Jakob Sobel) . Johannes Andreas Zóbel came from a long line of German pharmacists and established the
Botica Zóbel, an
apothecary, in 1834, located on Calle Real 28 in
Intramuros. He was appointed member of the
Consejo de Administración by the King of Spain on May 25, 1882. He was also member of the
Sociedad Económica de los Amigos del País, a
conciliario (adviser) of
Banco Español-Filipino and the secretary of the
Cámara de Comercio de Manila. He became a member of the prestigious
Real Academia de la Historia from 1865 to 1896. He received numerous awards, including the Grand Cross -
Real Orden Americana de Isabel la Catolica in 1880, Knight -
Orden de Carlos III, and knight-commander of the
Order of the Northern Star of
Sweden-
Norway. In December 1885, Zóbel established the first
tram system in Manila, the Manila-Tondo line, which extended to Malabon and was powered by steam. His capitalist partner was the Spanish banker Don Adolfo Bayo and his local partner was one of the richest Filipinos of the time, Don Gonzalo Tuasón, of the naturalised
Chinese mestizo caste. Eventually, he built four other major tram lines in Manila and its vicinity (Malate, Sampaloc to Tondo), drawn by horses. Zóbel died on the 7th of October, 1896, while under suspicion once again of supporting the Philippine revolution.
Trinidad Roxas de Ayala-Zobel (1856–1918) Trinidad Roxas de Ayala-Zobel was the youngest daughter of Antonio de Ayala and Margarita Róxas-Ayala (the eldest child of Domingo Ureta Róxas). She was very supportive of her husband's liberal causes, a trait she inherited from her mother. She was very much interested in the arts and she cultivated singing.
La Ilustración Filipina magazine reported on March 28, 1892, that she was invited to sing in
Malacañang with other sopranos of the period. In 1898, upon the death of her husband and with her brother-in-law, Pedro Pablo Róxas (1847–1913), away in Paris, France, Ayala divested her husband's tramcar and pharmacy businesses, and various assets of Ayala y Compañia. Showing extreme astuteness, she redeployed capital into marketable securities in hotels and trade, which later boomed after the
Philippine–American War and
World War I. She increased the family's holdings in
Banco Español Filipino, bought into
The Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Company Ltd. and invested in
Hong Kong real estate. Under her stewardship, Banco Español Filipino expanded into branch banking, opening an office in
Iloilo City. She funded the development of Manila's first community water system, known as the Carriedo waterworks. In 1898, she led Ayala y Compañía into its first real estate development. Upon the death of her brother-in-law Pedro Pablo Róxas in 1912, she took over his interests in Ayala y Compañia. In 1914, she gave
Hacienda San Pedro de Macati to her grandchildren – Jacobo Z. Zóbel, Alfonso Zóbel de Ayala and Mercedes R. Zóbel-McMiking (the children of her son
Enrique P. Zóbel de Ayala with his first wife, Consuelo Roxas-Zóbel de Ayala). She died in 1918 at the age of 62. ==Descendants==