The Society of the Mines Royal was one of two

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

mining monopoly companies incorporated by

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

in 1568, the other being the

Company of Mineral and Battery Works The Company of Mineral and Battery Works was, (with the Society of the Mines Royal), one of two mining monopolies created by Elizabeth I. The Company's rights were based on a patent granted to William Humfrey on 17 September 1565. This was replac ...

History

On 28 May 1568,

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

established the Society by letters patent as a

joint stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

with 24 shareholders:''Memoirs of the Geological Survey of England and Wales, Volume 2, Issue 2'', (1848)
p. 639
/ref> *Haug, Langnauer & Company,

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

Sir William Cecil William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...

* Thomas Thurland,

Master of the Savoy The Savoy Palace, considered the grandest nobleman's townhouse of medieval London, was the residence of prince John of Gaunt until it was destroyed during rioting in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The palace was on the site of an estate given to ...

*Edmund Thurland *Roger Wetheral *

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years. Dudley's youth was ov ...

William Humfrey William Humfrey (also Humphrey or Humphreys) (c.1515–1579) was an English goldsmith, mining promoter, and Assay Master at the Royal Mint during the reign of Elizabeth I. Life Little is known of Humfrey's life before 1560, when he is record ...

of the

Mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAES g ...

* Benedict Spinola *

Cornelius de Vos Cornelius de Vos or de Vois or Devosse ( fl. 1565-1585), was a Dutch or Flemish mine entrepreneur and mineral prospector working in England and Scotland. He was said to have been a "picture-maker" or portrait artist. De Vos is known for gold minin ...

*Jeffrey Duckett *Richard Springham, alderman *

James Blount, 6th Baron Mountjoy James Blount, 6th Baron Mountjoy (c. 1533 – 1582) was an English peer. Life Blount was born circa 1533 in Barnstaple, Devon, the eldest son of Charles Blount, 5th Baron Mountjoy (1516–1544) and Ann Willoughby. He inherited his title on the de ...

*John Dudley * William Winter *George Needham * William Patten *Jeffrey "Wolcheton" *

Lionel Duckett Lionel Duckett (1511August 1587) was one of the merchant adventurers of the City of London. He was four times Master of the Mercers' Company, and Lord Mayor of London in 1572. He was born in 1511 to William Duckett of Flintham, Nottinghamshire ...

, alderman *John Tamworth *Matthew Field *Edmund "Worschopp" *Anthony Duckett of

Grayrigg Grayrigg is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census the parish had a population of 223, increasing at the United Kingdom Censu ...

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

* William Burd (Treasurer to the Company) *

Thomas Smythe Sir Thomas Smythe (or Smith, c. 1558 – 4 September 1625) was an English merchant, politician and colonial administrator. He was the first governor of the East India Company and treasurer of the Virginia Company from 1609 to 1620 until envel ...

, Customer * William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke *Richard Barnes, alderman The establishment of the Society may have been the result of the Queen's success in the

Case of Mines The Case of Mines or ''R v Earl of Northumberland'' was decided in 1568. Rather than the usual four judges, a full panel of twelve common law senior judges, on appeal, decided “that by the law all mines of gold and silver within the realm, whe ...

. The new Society was granted a mining monopoly for base metals in several English and Welsh counties, including some where there were recoverable mines. It worked mines in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

and had a smelting plant near Keswick in

. It also opened a copper smelting plant near

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

. In the 1670s, the Society associated itself with the

, but perhaps only informally. Its monopoly disappeared under the Mines Royal Act of 1690. In the 1690s, some of its mines were leased to another mining syndicate known as ''Mines Royal Copper'', and that enterprise subsequently became the

London Lead Company The London Lead Company was an 18th and 19th century British lead mining company. It was incorporated by royal charter. Strictly, it was The Company for Smelting Down Lead with Pitcoal. Origins The company was chartered in 1692 to investors who i ...

. For the later history of the company, as amalgamated with the

, see that article.

Notes

References

* * Defunct mining companies of the United Kingdom 1568 establishments in England Companies established in the 16th century {{England-hist-stub

History

Further reading

Notes

References