Virginia Company
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The 1606 grants by James I to the London and Plymouth companies. The overlapping area (yellow) was granted to both companies on the stipulation that neither found a settlement within 100 miles of each and other. These territories were reapportioned in 1609; see London Company. |
The
Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of
English joint stock companies chartered by
James I in
1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of
North America. The two companies, called the
Virginia Company of London (or the
London Company) and the
Virginia Company of Plymouth (or
Plymouth Company) operated with identical charters but with differing territories.
By the terms of the charter, the London Company was permitted to establish a colony of 100 miles square between the 34th parallel and the 41st parallel (approximately between
Cape Fear and
Long Island Sound), and also owned a large portion of Atlantic and Inland
Canada. The Plymouth Company was permitted to establish a similar settlement between the 38th parallel and the 45th parallel (roughly between
Chesapeake Bay and the current
U.S.-
Canada border). In the area of overlap, the two companies were not permitted to establish colonies within one hundred miles of each other.
The charters of the companies called for a local council, but ultimate authority residing with the king through the
Council of Virginia in England.
In
1607, the London Company established the
Jamestown Settlement along the
James River in present-day
Virginia. The Plymouth Company established the
Popham Colony along the
Kennebec River in present day
Maine. By
1609, the Plymouth Colony had become inactive and a new charter was granted to the London Company for its territory. Also in 1609, the flagship of the London Company was wrecked in
Bermuda, leaving the Company in possession of that archipelago. Its Royal Charter was officially extended to include it in
1612. In
1615, however, Bermuda (alias The Somers Isles) passed to a separate company, the
Somers Isles Company, which had been formed by the same shareholders.
*
Proprietary Governor*David A. Price,
Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of A New Nation, Alfred A. Knopf, 2003
