|
|
"Lordes and Proprietors"
The Original Investors of Hbc
Who were the people who invested in Hudson's Bay Company? Most were financiers, noblemen and men active in the highest circles of business and the Royal Court.
In 1665 Pierre Radisson and his brother-in-law Médard Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers, accompanied by Colonel George Cartwright, whom they had met in Boston, arrived in London seeking backers for their proposed fur trading venture to Hudson Bay. It was not an auspicious time in the capital: an outbreak of plague had sent the city into a tailspin. Cartwright introduced the two to a number of influential men. Among these were Sir George Carteret and Robert Boyle.
 |
Nonsuch Returns to London, 1669 by Norman Wilkinson, ca. 1943 |
The proposed northern trade route caught the King's imagination and he put Radisson and des Groseilliers on a weekly stipend, placing them in the care of a young banker named Sir Peter Colleton. Colleton was the son of a Barbadian sugar planter and himself had colonial interests in the Bahamas and the Carolinas. Colleton escorted the Frenchmen back to London where he introduced them to the rest of the men who would become their initial backers. To quote one historian this group was not "a haphazard and spontaneous group of men who were attracted by the romance of their story, but a coordinated group with great interests in the colonial field, with considerable experience, and with a definite purpose."
Sometime in 1666 plans came together to underwrite a speculative voyage to North America to test the viability of the sea route and the potential of the trade, but Dutch domination of the seas precluded any voyage that year. The following year saw some progress but still no vessel set sail for Hudson Bay. Without a formal company structure yet in place to support such a venture, it was left to various individuals to advance seed money to keep the project afloat. Colleton undertook personal expenses for Radisson and des Groseilliers. Carteret bought a vessel for the voyage - the Discovery - although she proved unsuitable and was later sold at a loss. In October 1667 Francis Millington, a Customs Commissioner for the City of London, advanced money which was later credited towards the purchase of a share. So did his relative by marriage Sir Robert Vyner, Controller of the Mint, Lord Mayor of London and leading merchant banker of the day. John Fenn, Paymaster of the Royal Navy, started to contribute money for working expenses in December, 1667 and more came from John Portman, a prominent banker to investors in the Carolina and Bahamian colonies and Treasurer of those respective companies.
 |
His Highness Prince Rupert by Studio of Anthony van Dyck, n.d. |
Other investors included Hayes' brother-in-law and MP Sir Edward Hungerford; Sir John Robinson, Lieutenant of the Tower of London; Sir John Griffith, a professional soldier and city magnate; Sir Paul Neile, a member of the Royal Society; William Prettyman, a adventurer to India; Sir John Kirke, the son of a merchant who had captured Quebec in 1828, and the only investor with firsthand knowledge of the North American fur trade
The Nonsuch returned to London in October 1669 - almost four years after Radisson and des Groseilliers had first arrived there. But it had been worth the wait. Her success, the value of her cargo and the influence of the men who had backed her led directly to the granting of the Royal Charter the following year.
|
|
||
