London Company

(noun)

An English joint stock business established by royal charter by James I of England on April 10, 1606, with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America. 

Related Terms

Examples of London Company in the following topics:

  • The Coming of the English

    • Financed by the Muscovy Company, Martin Frobisher set sail in 1576, seeking the Northwest Passage.
    • Proprietors were appointed to found and govern settlements under mercantile charters granted to joint stock companies.
    • The Plymouth Company was given the northern portions, and the London Company was given the southern portions.
    • However, the London Virginia Company created the first successful English overseas settlements at Jamestown in 1607.
    • This map illustrates the 1606 grants by James I to the London and Plymouth companies.

  • Virginia

    • James granted a proprietary charter to two competing branches of the Virginia Company: the Plymouth Company and the London Company.
    • In 1606, each company organized expeditions to establish settlements within the area of their rights.
    • The London Company sent its expedition in December of 1606 and came ashore at the Chesapeake Bay, an event which has come to be called the "First Landing."
    • The London Company sent supply ships to the colony three times, but these were sometimes delayed and left the colonists with little in the way of food and supplies.
    • The Church of England was legally established; the bishop of London made it a favorite missionary target and sent in 22 clergymen by 1624.

  • Settling the Southern Colonies

    • Charles I eventually granted proprietary charters to the Plymouth Company and the London Company.

  • J.P. Morgan and the Financial Industry

    • After financing the creation of the Federal Steel Company he merged in 1901 with the Carnegie Steel Company and several other steel and iron businesses, including Consolidated Steel and Wire Company, to form the United States Steel Corporation.
    • Morgan went into banking in 1857 at his father's London branch.
    • He moved to New York City in 1858, where he worked at the banking house of Duncan, Sherman & Company, the American representatives of George Peabody & Company.
    • Morgan & Company" in 1895, and retained close ties with Drexel & Company of Philadelphia, Morgan, Harjes & Company of Paris, and J.S.
    • Morgan & Company (after 1910 Morgan, Grenfell & Company), of London.

  • Herbert Hoover: The Great Engineer

    • ., a London-based mining company.
    • He worked under company partner Edward Hooper, and served as both a geologist and mining engineer while searching the Western Australian goldfields for investments.
    • Hoover recommended improving working conditions for Chinese workers at the company, seeking to end the practice of imposing long term servitude contracts on them.
    • The company would eventually control approximately 50% of gold production in Western Australia.
    • Eventually, he ended up with investments on every continent and offices in San Francisco, London, New York City, St.

  • Jamestown, Virginia

    • Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia established by the Virginia Company of London in 1607.
    • On June 10, 1610, retreating settlers were intercepted a few miles downriver by a supply mission from London which brought much-needed supplies and additional settlers.
    • Simultaneously, however, Virginia was declared a "crown colony", meaning that charter was transferred from the Virginia Company to the Crown of England, making Jamestown a colony now run by the English monarchy.

  • The Calm Before the Storm

    • As Europeans developed a taste for tea in the 17th century, rival companies were formed to import the product from China.
    • In England, Parliament gave the East India Company a monopoly on the importation of tea in 1698.
    • The East India Company did not export tea to the colonies; by law, the company was required to sell its tea wholesale at auctions in England.
    • Until 1767, the East India Company paid a tax of about 25% on tea that it imported into Great Britain.
    • This would allow the company to reduce costs by eliminating the middlemen who bought the tea at wholesale auctions in London.

  • Al Smith and the Election of 1928

    • ., a London-based mining company.
    • Eventually he had investments on every continent and offices in San Francisco, London, New York City, St.

  • The Habit of Self-Government

    • The Mayflower was originally bound for the Colony of Virginia, financed by the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London.

  • English Administration of the Colonies

    • These governments were all subordinate to the king in London and had no explicit relationship with the British Parliament.
    • Each colony had a paid colonial agent in London to represent its interests.
    • Charter colonies, also known as corporate colonies or joint stock companies, included Rhode Island, Providence Plantation, and Connecticut.
    • A joint stock company was a project in which investors would buy shares of stock in building a new colony.