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Sir Nicholas Crispe, 1st Baronet (c. 1599 – 26 February 1666 ( O.S)) was an English
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
and a wealthy merchant who pioneered the
West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
n slave trade in the 1630s; a customs farmer (1640 and c. 1661–6); Member of Parliament for
Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a town in the county of East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The current town, which was founded in 1288, replaced an earli ...
Nov. 1640-1 (being expelled as a monopolist); member of the Council of Trade (from 1660) and for Foreign Plantations (from 1661); and
Gentleman of the Privy Chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...
from 1664. He was knighted in 1640 or 1641 and was made a
baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
in 1665. He died in February 1666 (O.S.) aged 67.


Early life

Little is known of his early life and even his name is variously spelled as Crisp or Crispe. He was the son of
Ellis Crispe Ellis Crispe (1562–1625) was a merchant, alderman and Sheriff of London. He was born in Marshfield, Gloucestershire the son of Thomas Crispe and Elizabeth Steward. He was baptised on 23 May 1562. He was a member of the Salters Company. He was ...
who was
Sheriff of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...
and died in 1625. He was the brother of Tobias Crisp, a prominent cleric and antinomian. Crisp made money from brickworks in
Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...
then invested in other trade. Crisp's main commercial interests were in the trades to
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
. Like his father he was a substantial stockholder in the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
, and throughout his twenties he imported a wide variety of commodities, including
cloves Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or fragrance in consumer products, ...
,
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,
silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
s, pepper, elephant tusks,
calico Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...
es, and shells. The shells were specially purchased on his behalf by the company's agents and it is thought that they were used to finance the purchase of slaves in west Africa.


Guinea Company

The Company of Adventurers of London trading to the ports of Africa, or more commonly known as the Guinea Company, was the first private company to colonize Africa for profit. They were a trading company primarily exporting redwood (used for dyes) from the western parts of Africa. Nicholas Crisp started investing in the company in 1625 and became the controlling stock holder in 1628. Nicholas Crisp got most of his royalist support through the building of trading forts on the Gold Coast of Komenda and Kormantin. The King, James I, saw them as a great value to future of English trade with Africa. It is estimated that Nicholas Crisp and his company made a profit of over £500,000 through the gold they had collected within the 11–12 years after 1632. In 1637, the Guinea Company, including Nicholas, reported that they had dispatched John Crispe as captain of merchantman ''Talbot'' "to take "nigers," and carry them to foreign parts." According to British parliamentary records, the company also appears to have been involved in the trade of enslaved Africans. A sizeable assemblage of early-17th century glass beads and 'wasters' were discovered in association with a brick furnace in the grounds of the private estate of Sir Nicholas Crisp (on what is now Hammersmith Embankment) during excavation in 2005. Crisp had a patent for making and vending beads and he also obtained a patent for slave trading from Guinea to the West Indies. These beads were probably used for both the local and colonial markets as researchers have uncovered similar beads in the Americas and in Ghana. This is the first clear archaeological evidence for the manufacture of early post-medieval glass beads in England. Elected to the
Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...
in 1640 to represent
Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a town in the county of East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The current town, which was founded in 1288, replaced an earli ...
he was expelled in 1641 for collecting duties on merchandise which he used as security to loan money to the cash-strapped King Charles I without the authorization of Parliament. On New Year's Day 1640, King Charles I knighted Crisp, recognising his past services, but perhaps more importantly, anticipating his further services.


Civil War

Despite his loyalties to the King, who had fled to Oxford on the outbreak of Civil War, Crisp remained in
Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...
-controlled London. However he was questioned by the House of Commons in January 1643 about £3,700, which an intercepted letter revealed as owed to him 'for secrett service done for his Majestie'. He promptly slipped away to Oxford, where he was warmly welcomed by the King, but his houses in Hammersmith and Lime Street were ransacked. Crisp was forced by Parliament to surrender his patents for making and vending beads and for slave trading from Guinea to the West Indies. An order relating to a debt owed by Sir Nicholas Crisp to the Navy was laid before the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
in December 1643. The
House of Commons of England The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was re ...
had ordered that Crisp's share in the Guinea Company, his trading venture to Africa, should be used to cover this debt. The arrival of gold from this adventure now prompted the House of Lords to confirm that Crisp's share in this should be used to pay off the debt. Crisp 's supported the King in a number of ways throughout the Civil War. He was at the centre of a plan in March 1643 to head a force to take over London, but the idea failed. A letter to him from Sir Thomas Ogle was intercepted and published. He was also frustrated in his attempts to raise an infantry regiment of 1,500 later that year. However, on 6 May 1644, he was commissioned to equip 15 warships at his own and his partner's expense and granted a tenth of any prizes taken by them. Operating from west country ports, he ferried troops from
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and played an important role in shipping
tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...
and
wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
to the continent. He would also bring back arms and ammunition as a return cargo, and ultimately held the important position of deputy controller-general of posts. His allegiance to the crown was steadfast, even after Charles I was executed in 1649 and he was forced to flee to France like many others. Family connections allowed him to return but his politics had not changed in the least and in the run up to the Restoration, Crisp performed secret services and raised money for exiled Charles II. He was among those London Royalists who signed the declaration in support of General Monk to restore the Stuart monarchy. He was also involved in clandestine support for royalist conspiracies, such as the abortive plot of 1650 to land forces from the Scillies on the Cornish coast. In May 1660 Crisp was one of the committee sent to meet King Charles II at
Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...
as he returned to England to take to the throne his father had vacated.


Later life

Once the monarchy was restored he was paid back in part for all he had lost defending the Crown. The King also appointed him to a number of prominent offices to make up the deficit. He tried to regain his former trading position, but was unsuccessful, though his membership in the Company of Adventurers did give him some influence on the trade. He was mentioned in
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...
' diary on 11 February 1660; 25 January, 15 and 19 February, 5 September 1662; and 22 August 1663. Pepys notes his inventiveness and mentions his proposals for a wet-dock. He was returned to Parliament again in 1661 to represent Winchelsea until 1666. In 1665 Charles II honoured his loyal servant by creating him a baronet.


Death and legacy

Crisp died on 26 February 1666 (O.S.) aged 67. He was buried in St Paul's Church, Hammersmith in a monument of black and white marble long and wide, upon which was a brass head of King Charles I, with an oval engraving:
"This Effigies was Erected by the special Appointment of Sir Nicholas Crispe, Knight and Baronet, as grateful Commemoration of that Glorious Martyr King Charles I. of blessed Memory".
Under that oval was a white pedestal upon which was inscribed:
"Within this Urne is Entomb'd the Heart of Sir Nicholas Crispe Kt. and Baronet, a Loyal Sharer in the Sufferings of his late and present Majesty. He first settled the Trade of Gold, and there Built the Castle of Cormentine. Died the 26th of February 1665. Aged 67."
In his will he directed that his monument should record that he had lost 'out of purse about a Hundred Thousand pounds' by his pioneering efforts in the Guinea trade. He was buried in the church of St Mildred, Bread Street in east London. He was a great benefactor to the borough of Hammersmith, supporting the building of Hammersmith's first chapel, supplying both money and bricks. The memorial to Crisp was transferred to the churchyard of St Paul's by the north-east door of the church. A horseshoe, like in his coat of arms, is now present in the
coat of arms of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The coat of arms of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham was granted to the then London Borough of Hammersmith on 1 March 1965, but the motto changed languages in 1969. The subsequent change of names to Hammersmith and Fulham on 1 Janua ...
Crisp was a sitter in a portrait by Robert Hartley Cromek but the date, 1795, is too late to be original, it is copied from an earlier portrait by an unknown artist. Crisp was also responsible for building Brandenburgh House in Fulham Palace Road. Originally named the "Great House" by Crisp, this impressive residence was later the home of King
George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...
's estranged wife Queen Caroline. There is a Crisp Road in Hammersmith named after him.


References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Crispe, Nicholas 1590s births 1666 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1640–1648 Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber 17th-century English merchants English MPs 1661–1679 People from Winchelsea