Providence Company

The Providence Company or Providence Island Company was an English chartered company founded in 1629 by a group of Puritans including Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick in order to establish the Providence Island colony on Providence Island and Mosquito Coast of what became Nicaragua.

Providence Island was discovered during 1629 by Daniel Elfrith. Elfrith passed its location to Philip Bell who was governor of the Somers Islands; Bell mentioned it to Nathaniel Rich. Rich then involved the Earl of Warwick, his family connection, who called a meeting for 10 November 1629, at Brooke House in Holborn, London. The result was finance, notionally £200 per member, with 20 members, that number being achieved at the start of 1631. Bell accompanied settlers to Providence Island, landed on 24 December of the same year, and became the first governor.

Besides Lord Warwick, among the twenty shareholders in the Company were William Fiennes, Lord Saye and Sele, and Robert Greville, Lord Brooke. Oliver St John, a Puritan barrister, represented the Providence Company's interests, and the treasurer was John Pym, a squire from the West Country. William Jessop was commissioned as the Company's Secretary.

The Company was granted a royal charter. Of these investors, 12 already were involved with the Somers Isles Company. An official record names 7 for the patent granted 4 December 1630, with others to be added in future. The following are listed as Charter Members:

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