Company of Scotland
Flag of the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies (1698)
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| Industry | International trade |
|---|---|
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Founded | 26 June 1695 |
| Defunct | 1 May 1707 |
| Headquarters | Edinburgh, Scotland |
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Key people
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John Hamilton, 2nd Lord Belhaven and Stenton; Adam Cockburn, Lord Ormiston; John Maxwell, Lord Pollok; William Paterson |
The Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, also called the Scottish Darien Company, was an overseas trading company created by an act of the Parliament of Scotland in 1695. The Act granted the Company a monopoly of Scottish trade to India, Africa and the Americas, similar to English charter companies' monopolies, and also extraordinary sovereign rights and temporary exemptions from taxation.
Financial and political troubles plagued its early years. The governors were divided between those residing and meeting in Edinburgh and those in London, amongst whom were both Scots and Englishmen. They were also divided by business intentions; some intended to trade in India and on the African coast, as an effective competitor to the English East India Company, while others were drawn to William Paterson's Darien scheme, which ultimately prevailed.
In July 1698 the company launched its first expedition, led by Paterson, who hoped to establish a colony in Darien (on the Isthmus of Panama), which could then be used as a trading point between Europe and the Far East.
Though five ships and 1,200 Scottish colonists landed successfully in Darien, the settlement was poorly provisioned and eventually abandoned. A second, larger expedition (launched before the fate of the first was known) took up the deserted settlement, but was quickly besieged by the Spanish. More than a thousand succumbed to hunger and disease, and in April 1700, two ships carried the few survivors home.
On 26 June 1696 the Parliament of Scotland passed the Act for a company trading to Africa and the Indies, establishing the Company of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies. The subscription book of the Company of Scotland was opened in Edinburgh on 26 February 1696, inviting investments from a minimum of £100 up to a maximum of £3,000. Such was the popularity of the scheme that on the first day alone 69 subscriptions were taken, worth £50,400. A second book was open in Glasgow between 5 March and 22 April, and by the beginning of August 1696 the full target of £400,000 sterling had been reached.
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Wikipedia