Company of London Merchants

The Company of London Merchants (English for "Society of London Merchants") was an English trading company that existed from the end of 1651 to the end of March 1663. During this period the company held the State monopoly privilege for British trade on the West African coast with a scope that, unlike at the predecessor company, but now only the stretch of coast between the coast of Sierra Leone until after Kormantin on the Gold Coast Limited .

founding

The Company of London Merchants emerged from the Company of Merchants Trading to Guinea , which had been trading in West Africa with a royal monopoly since 1631. In the course of the political unrest in England at the end of the 1630s and the resultant outbreak of the English Civil War , the previous initiator and main actor of the company, Nicholas Crispe, saw himself after his expulsion from the English Parliament , which occurred because of his royalist sympathies and monopoly behavior, forced to flee to the side of King Charles I of England . Under the military protection of a royal squadron, the company was initially able to continue trading in West Africa, despite massive resistance from an opposing party that was loyal to Parliament and increasingly dominated the waters around England. In return, Crispe thanked the king with considerable financial aid. When Charles I was finally executed on January 31, 1649, arose in Parliament a. a. also the question of the continuation of the West African trade.

In connection with several allegations of abuse of the monopoly patent, which were also directed against former company members, the court responsible at the time, after a detailed investigation of the legal situation, passed the matter to the Parliament's Committee of Trade for closer examination and decision in connection with an assessment on the further continuation of the African trade, which happened especially with a view to an impending war with Holland . In the same year 1651 the Committee of Trade presented its report and finally recommended that despite the many difficulties in Africa trade, the royal monopoly should be maintained. The Parliament then confirmed the monopoly for the company for another 14 years, although it was given a new name for this: "Company of London Merchants".

During this conversion, the previous management personalities of the old company, such as John Wood, Maurice Thompson, Rawland Wilson and Thomas Walter, were confirmed in their previous positions in the new company. Shortly thereafter, the head of the once so opposed English surreptitious traffickers, Samuel Vassal, against whom the company had brought a lawsuit in 1651, was a partner in the company, as was a Thomas Chamberlain and John Frederick. Sir Nicholas Crispe, while still excluded from the Company's affairs, was still theoretically at its head because of his previous, very substantial expenses for the Company. However, it was emphasized in this context that the recipients of the original patents from 1631 had given up all their interests in favor of John Wood and his partners.

The newly founded company started with the stated goal:

a) to revive the English Africa trade,

b) to regulate relations with the Dutch anew and to put them on a non-warlike basis and

c) to resume the search for gold for which one committed oneself in the

to bring in at least £ 10,000 for England in the following three years.

A possible slave trade was not mentioned at all in the founding papers and this was quite deliberately, because it was extremely unpopular in Puritan England at the time . Nevertheless, he was well involved in the interests of the new company.

First Anglo-Dutch Sea War and the Gold Coast

In 1650 the English Parliament passed its famous navigation act , which was amended again in a version dated October 9, 1651. In response, the First Anglo-Dutch War breaks out.

Although the English and Dutch faced each other face-to-face on the Gold Coast, things remained quiet here thanks to a memorable agreement reached on January 6, 1653 between the English governor, George Middleton, and the Dutch general manager, Jacob Ruijghaver. In this, both sides promised not to attack the other side unless there was an express order from the respective home government. In the event of an attack order, however, each side wants to give the other side a period of ten days to prepare for combat operations. In the event of the absence of any directives from Europe, however, according to the agreement, one would mutually allow free trade on the Guinea coast.

The local rulers on the Gold Coast also tried to take advantage of the war conditions in Europe for themselves, as it was relatively easy and cheap to purchase European firearms at this time under the assurance that the locals would be able to fight in the event that there should be combat To attack allies of the other side, who are also their enemies, with armed force.

In October 1652 there was a large joint meeting of all the kings and chiefs of "Accania", in which delegates from the Dutch and their allies also took part. It is said that the King of Fetu appeared at this meeting with around 300 to 400 men, all of whom were equipped with European muskets .

Also at the beginning of 1653 some “Akany” traders from the coastal hinterland bought large quantities of gunpowder from the Dutch in Elmina in preparation for a war with the Fantis , who were regarded as allies of the English. At the same time, "Akany" dealers from coastal cities such as Annamaboe , Adja and Kormantin are said to have appeared at the Etsi to ask for personal support for the Fanti War they were preparing, as well as for musket balls and gunpowder. In all likelihood, the Etsi had previously received European firearms from the British.

The First Anglo-Dutch War ended with the Peace of Westminster on April 15, 1654.

Lease

Due to financial difficulties, in 1657 the Company of London Merchants leased all of its trading and property rights in West Africa to the English East India Company for the remaining period of validity of the monopoly patent .

Restoration of the monarchy in England

Even after the execution of King Charles I in 1649, Nicholas Crispe remained an ardent royalist despite all the looting, confiscation and harassment and so it is not surprising that he did everything in his power to support the intended re-establishment of the monarchy in England . Crispe was one of the signatories of the London Royalist Declaration of 24 April 1660 in support of General Monck and he was also a member of the delegation sent by Parliament that traveled to Breda in April 1660 to see the former Prince Charles return to England to persuade with the assurance of a restoration of the royal dignity. In particular, Crispe hoped to get back into his previous business in Africa, or if not, at least to be able to get some compensation for his earlier expenses.

Two monopoly companies side by side

Cripe's request, however, was opposed to the fact that the monopoly patent with regard to West Africa trade was legally valid until it expired in December 1664. Crispe was reinstated in his position as director of the Company of London Merchants in 1660 , but as such he was only officially recognized as a "landlord", but this position did not give him any rights.

The situation also still was complicated when Charles II. , As the new king of England, decreed on 18 December 1660, that the monopoly patent in 1631 with his departure should not be extended and at the same time a new monopoly patent to the recently created Company of Royal Adventurers trading to Africa . The latter was brought into being at the instigation of his brother James and some of his friends in order to be able to exploit the West African gold trade for themselves.

However, from a legal point of view, the new patent was only effective to a very limited extent as long as the old patent had not expired. In order to avoid serious conflicts, which would sooner or later arise from the anomaly of two monopoly companies operating in the same concession area, a compromise was reached that the newly founded company initially limited its activities to the region of the Gambia Estuary until another Solution is found. Negotiations between the Company of Royal Adventurers and the East India Company then took place until 1662 . The result of the negotiations was that on March 25, 1663 , the East India Company ceded all of its rights to trade in West Africa to the previous holder of the monopoly patent.

Situation on the Gold Coast

As far as the Gold Coast was concerned, the expulsion of the Dutch from Carolusburg at the end of 1659 or beginning of 1660 had the effect that they now set up a sea blockade of the entire Gold Coast between Kommendah and Kormantin, which was much to the chagrin of the English. Several of their ships were captured by the Dutch or driven off the coast. In the period 1661/1662 alone, six English ships were captured and seized by the Dutch off the Gold Coast. This prompted the directors of the newly formed Company of Royal Adventurers of England trading to Africa to seek help and protection from the king for their trade, who then sent a squadron under the command of Admiral Holmes to the Guinea coast with appropriate instructions.

New beginning

In January 1663 the monopoly patent was finally withdrawn by the king of the old company and a new patent was issued for the latter in connection with a reorganization and restructuring of the newly founded Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa . The Company of London Merchants still officially existed as long as the East India Company exercised its leased rights, but after the assignment of these to the previous patent holders on March 25, 1663, these were immediately transferred to the newly founded company. The Company of London Merchants ceased to exist.

Despite massive personal setbacks and disappointments during and after the civil war, Sir Nicholas Crispe, as the initiator and pioneer of the English gold coast trade, still had enough energy to venture a fresh start and cut his previous losses by re-entering the West African trade. So it is not surprising that he subscribed to £ 2,000 in the new company . Crispe was soon back among the company's senior management, albeit not as a dominant figure.

Footnotes

↑ ^a ^b Today Saltpond at 5 ° 12 ' N , 1 ° 4' W .5.2052 -1.0643
↑ The king had put 15 warships at Crispe's disposal.
↑ A surreptitious trader is a captain or his client who traded in a state-protected concession area in his own name and for his own account without having obtained a permit from the concession holder. (German historical name: "Lordträger"; Danish / Dutch: "Lorrendreyer"; English: "interlooper"; French: "entreloope")
^ The first version of the Navigation Act of 1650 forbade all foreign ships to trade in any of the English colonies. Probably due to numerous protests on the part of the colonial traders, the English parliament amended the navigation act again and passed a new version of this law on October 9, 1651. This new version banned the import of any goods from Asia, Africa or America except on English, Irish or English-colonial ships on which the majority of the crew is English, Irish or English-colonial nationality. In addition, the import of European goods into England was prohibited except on English, Irish or English-colonial ships or ships. However, a few exceptions were permitted, such as the importation of goods into English, Irish or English-colonial ports on the part of Spain and Portugal, provided that these goods were goods that had been produced in the colonies of these two countries.
↑ Since it was a pure naval war, it is sometimes referred to as the First Anglo-Dutch Sea War. The main fighting of this war took place in the Atlantic around England and in the Mediterranean.
↑ In the region in the coastal hinterland called Cabes Terra by the Portuguese.
↑ In England at that time, the pound sterling was a fictitious bill coin (banco coin) worth 1 pound = 16 ounces sterling silver (= 22-carat silver = 22 parts silver + 2 parts copper) with the subdivision: 1 pound sterling ( £) = 20 shillings (s.), Each of 12 denari (d.) (Penny), d. H. The value of 240 denari corresponded exactly to the value represented by 22/24 pounds of fine silver. This definition existed since 1489. It was not until the 19th century that paper bills with pounds sterling appeared as a currency in circulation. Zedlers Universal Lexikon (1735) mentions the conversion of gold to silver money in England: 1 ounce of gold = £ 3 + 14 s. + 2 d.

literature

R. Porter, The Crispe Family and the African Trade in the Seventeenth Century , in: Journal of African History , 9 (11), 1968, pp. 57-77
Kwame Yeboah Daaku, Trade and Politics on the Gold Coast 1600 - 1720 , Oxford 1970
Chris Cook, John Wroughton, English historical facts 1603 - 1688 , London 1980
RA Kea, Firearms and warfare on the Gold and Slave Coast from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries , in: Journal of African History , 12 (2), 1971, pp. 185-213

[Saltpond-1] Today Saltpond at 5 ° 12 ' N , 1 ° 4' W .5.2052 -1.0643

[2] The king had put 15 warships at Crispe's disposal.

[3] A surreptitious trader is a captain or his client who traded in a state-protected concession area in his own name and for his own account without having obtained a permit from the concession holder. (German historical name: "Lordträger"; Danish / Dutch: "Lorrendreyer"; English: "interlooper"; French: "entreloope")

[4] The first version of the Navigation Act of 1650 forbade all foreign ships to trade in any of the English colonies. Probably due to numerous protests on the part of the colonial traders, the English parliament amended the navigation act again and passed a new version of this law on October 9, 1651. This new version banned the import of any goods from Asia, Africa or America except on English, Irish or English-colonial ships on which the majority of the crew is English, Irish or English-colonial nationality. In addition, the import of European goods into England was prohibited except on English, Irish or English-colonial ships or ships. However, a few exceptions were permitted, such as the importation of goods into English, Irish or English-colonial ports on the part of Spain and Portugal, provided that these goods were goods that had been produced in the colonies of these two countries.

[5] Since it was a pure naval war, it is sometimes referred to as the First Anglo-Dutch Sea War. The main fighting of this war took place in the Atlantic around England and in the Mediterranean.

[6] In the region in the coastal hinterland called Cabes Terra by the Portuguese.

[7] In England at that time, the pound sterling was a fictitious bill coin (banco coin) worth 1 pound = 16 ounces sterling silver (= 22-carat silver = 22 parts silver + 2 parts copper) with the subdivision: 1 pound sterling ( £) = 20 shillings (s.), Each of 12 denari (d.) (Penny), d. H. The value of 240 denari corresponded exactly to the value represented by 22/24 pounds of fine silver. This definition existed since 1489. It was not until the 19th century that paper bills with pounds sterling appeared as a currency in circulation. Zedlers Universal Lexikon (1735) mentions the conversion of gold to silver money in England: 1 ounce of gold = £ 3 + 14 s. + 2 d.