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Virginia Company: Foundations

During its first two decades, the Virginia Company attempted to wrangle with the exorbitant expense required in sending ships, sailors, trade specialists, and others to the New World while establishing and maintaining viable colony at Virginia.  The expenses soared as the colony sputtered in the marshy land near the Atlantic coast during harsh winters and dwindling supplies, but as the years went by, the colony thrived.  As the corporate minds behind the Company sought to expand the colony at every turn, an idealized Virginia took root at home.

Virginia was chartered in April of 1606 by letters patent signed by King James (this is called the "First Charter").

The first page of the 1606 Virginia Company charter.

This charter authorized the colonization of Virginia and called for the formation of a Council for Virginia, which was named later that year.  The King's Council consisted of:

Sir William Wade, Lieutenant of the Tower of London
Sir Thomas Smith
Sir Walter Cope
Sir George More
Sir Francis Popham
Sir Ferdinando Gorges
Sir John Trevor
Sir Henry Montagu
Sir William Romney
John Dodderidge
Thomas Warr
John Eldred
Thomas James, of Bristol
James Bagg, of Plymouth

Second Charter

In 1609, those involved in the first colonization went back to King James and asked for an expansion of the original charter.  James created the "corporation" for Virginia (i.e., the Virginia Company) in response ("The Second Charter").  The "Company" itself was essentially a large group of stockholders called "The Company of Adventurers and Planters."

The Company reflected the whole of English society.  It was governed by the King's Council (above), which was comprised of wealthy nobleman and merchants, and it employed sea captains and sailors, carpenters and other tradesmen.  As the colony developed and voyages to Jamestown and the remainder of the colony increased, information and goods returned to England.  Accounts from the new world funneled their way into the culture, particularly in London.

James also created a council for the Virginia Company that included:

The seal of the Virginia Company.

Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke
James Montagu
William Parker, Lord Mounteagle
Sir Walter Cope
Sir Henry Montagu
John Eldred

Third Charter and beyond: The Virginia Company as investment.

The Company's Third Charter  in 1611 organized the company again, and, among other actions named Philip Herbert to the Council.

The council was rather like a board of directors of a company today. They represented the interests of the company, made key decisions. (The company was the group of people who held stock in the company (just like today)).  While the council was usually comprised of wealthy members of society, a stockholder could be anybody.
 
Lists of stockholders in the Virginia Company included names such as:

Edward Alleyn
Richard Bannister
Sir George More
William Cavendish
John Fletcher
William Knollys
William Strachey
Henry Wriothesley

This list of stockholders represents a group of people whose money funded the colonization of Virginia, but who did not necessarily play a central role in the Company's operations.