Sir Nicholas Crispe, 1st Baronet

Sir Nicholas Crispe, 1st Baronet (c. 1599 – 26 February 1666 (O.S)) was an English Royalist and a wealthy merchant who pioneered the West African trade in the 1630s; a customs farmer (1640 and c. 1661-6); Member of Parliament for Winchelsea 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 from 1664. He was knighted in 1640 or 1641 and was made a baronet in 1665. He died in February 1666 (O.S.) aged 67.

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 who was Sheriff of London and died in 1625. He was the brother of Tobias Crisp, a prominent cleric and antinomian. Crisp made money from brickworks in Hammersmith then invested in other trade. Crisp’s main commercial interests were in the trades to India and Africa. Like his father he was a substantial stockholder in the East India Company, and throughout his twenties he imported a wide variety of commodities, including cloves, indigo, silks, pepper, elephant tusks, calicoes, 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.

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 become the controlling stock holder in 1628.

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