Thomas Foulis facts for kids

Thomas Foulis was a Scottish goldsmith, mine owner, and a key financial helper for King James VI. He lived and worked between 1580 and 1628.

Foulis was based in Edinburgh and was involved in making coins, mining for gold and lead, and managing money. From May 1591, he handled the money Queen Elizabeth I sent to King James VI. This money was known as the English annuity or subsidy. His business partner was Robert Jousie, an Edinburgh cloth merchant who later worked directly for the King.

Skilled Goldsmith

Foulis became a master goldsmith in Edinburgh on June 18, 1581. He proved his skill by creating a piece of silverwork. His teacher was Michael Gilbert. Foulis's son, David, also became a goldsmith.

In February 1582, Foulis made new tools for minting coins. These tools followed designs from Lord Seton's painter. Working for the royal mint gave Foulis special benefits and tax breaks. This made some people in Edinburgh unhappy. For example, the town leaders refused to register one of his apprentices in February 1591.

In March 1588, Foulis complained to the Privy Council (a group of royal advisors). He was concerned about James Acheson, who had permission to make counters or tokens. Foulis believed this interfered with his own right to make coin dies. The Council decided that Acheson's pewter counters did not harm Foulis's rights.

In 1590, Foulis crafted a beautiful silver-gilt basin and ewer (a type of jug). This was a christening gift from Queen Elizabeth to Elizabeth Stewart, the daughter of Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell. Foulis also lent the English ambassador, Robert Bowes, £20 to pay servants and musicians at the baptism in Edinburgh.

In April 1593, English diplomats Lord Burgh and Robert Bowes borrowed £300 from Robert Jousie, Thomas Foulis, and John Porterfield. This money was used to reward people who supported England's plans.

Royal Clothes and Jewelry

Michael Gilbert and Thomas Foulis made rings and other jewels for King James VI. The King gave these as New Year's Day gifts to his courtiers (people who attended the royal court). In 1583, the bill for these gifts was £763. By January 1588, it had grown to £5,100.

In June 1589, Foulis provided the King with two gold chains and rings. These were worth £953 Scots and were given to the captains of an English fleet. The fleet was led by George Beeston. Beeston also received a gold locket with diamonds, costing £373. His sailors were given 100 crowns, worth £266. These gifts were given after a fight between Beeston's sailors and former Armada soldiers in Edinburgh.

King James VI sent Foulis and Robert Jousie to London in July 1589. Their mission was to buy clothes and decorations for the King's wedding to Anne of Denmark. To guarantee payment for these items and for jewels and silver made in Foulis's workshop, the King gave him valuable rubies set in gold buttons. Foulis returned these royal jewels in October 1589, when James VI sailed to Norway. He also returned a large diamond he had held since January 1586 as payment for New Year's Day gifts. When James returned to Scotland in May 1590, Foulis provided gold chains as gifts for the Danish Admiral Peder Munk and his companions.

Foulis supplied jewels to King James VI and Queen Anne. Jousie provided clothes and fabrics. Part of the payment for these items came from the money Queen Elizabeth sent. In August 1594, Foulis bought eight ruffs (fancy collars) in London for the Queen. Foulis also had a large collection of fabric when he died.

In January 1597, Foulis was paid for several valuable items. These included a diamond and ruby ring, a ring with a large diamond, a ring with seven diamonds, another with eleven diamonds, and a locket with an emerald and ten diamonds. He also supplied a "carcan" necklace with diamonds, rubies, and pearls. The total value was 790 crowns, or £2,765 Scots. King James VI had given some of these jewels as New Year's Day gifts.

Miner and Refiner

In March 1592, Foulis worked on a project to refine old Scottish silver coins with Sir William Bowes in London. Foulis also ran a copper mine near Edinburgh for the King. He was allowed to use wood from the Torwood forest to make charcoal for refining metals.

In January 1594, Foulis received a lease (permission to use land) to mine and export all minerals and metals from the Friarmoor in Lanarkshire. This was given to him because the King and Queen owed him money.

In March 1594, one of Foulis's mining experts, Bernard Fechtenburg, was hired away by Lord Menmuir. Fechtenburg went to work for Sir David Lindsay of Edzell Castle. Fechtenburg said that Edzell's ore samples looked more promising than those Foulis's experts had tested. In April 1594, Foulis received permission to search for and mine gold, silver, lead, tin, and other metals in Lanarkshire. This permission mentioned mines that George Douglas of Parkhead had worked before.

Foulis became known as Thomas Foulis of Leadhills. In June 1597, some border outlaws robbed one of his groups carrying lead towards Edinburgh. The Privy Council then allowed Foulis's carriers to wear a lead badge with the King's arms and Foulis's own symbol. Anyone who tried to rob them would be executed.

Silver at Hilderston

Silver was found at Hilderston, near Bathgate, in 1607. The prospector Bevis Bulmer and Thomas Foulis opened a silver mine they called "God's Blessing." In 1608, Thomas Foulis and George Foulis, who was also a goldsmith, tested ore from the mine. The Hilderston mine was developed by Bulmer, who was in charge of the King's mines. George Bruce of Carnock acted as the treasurer. In 1613, Foulis got the contract for the mine with William Alexander of Menstrie and Paulo Pinto from Portugal.

Royal Finances

Foulis helped manage the King's money for the Chancellor, John Maitland of Thirlestane, and his wife Jean Fleming, between 1588 and 1590. This money came from the English subsidy, a regular gift from Queen Elizabeth to King James VI. Foulis's records include a "cupboard" (a collection) of silver plates for Maitland. Foulis himself contributed ten silver plates to this collection.

Foulis was sent to London in June 1591 to collect the subsidy. He asked for £14,000, but was refused and only received £4,000. In July 1592, the suggested amount was £2,000. King James VI argued he deserved more, especially after the Irish rebel Brian O'Rourke was handed over.

In September 1594, the King owed Foulis £14,598 Scots. He gave Foulis two gold cups that could be turned into gold £5 coins if he wasn't repaid. These cups had been given to the King by the Dutch ambassador Walraven III van Brederode at the baptism of Prince Henry.

Foulis kept records from 1594 to 1596 of money King James VI received. This money came from the English subsidy, duties on his gold mines, money coined at the royal mint, and from the Secretary, Richard Cockburn of Clerkington. Queen Elizabeth had made it clear that the money given to Cockburn should be taken to Scotland, not spent in London, as had happened before.

Some money went to Foulis and Robert Jousie for clothes they had already delivered to the King and Queen. Most of the rest was spent on jewelry for Anne of Denmark, gifts for ambassadors at Prince Henry's baptism, or New Year's Day gifts. The Master of Work William Schaw received a hat badge shaped like a gold salamander with diamonds.

Some of the King's original orders to Foulis still exist. In May 1594, the King wrote to Foulis, who was in London, asking him to buy lead to fix the roof of Linlithgow Palace. He also asked for an alabaster stone for the new Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle. Gold chains for ambassadors in 1594 were made by George Foulis. On August 16, 1595, King James ordered Foulis to fix and enlarge two silver chandeliers for Prince Henry. The King even let the baby prince mark the paper to approve the order!

In November 1596, there were doubts about Foulis's financial standing. In May 1597, Foulis and Jousie were made collectors of a new 12% tax on imports. They even had the power to take the sails from ships if the tax wasn't paid.

Financial Troubles

Foulis became involved in managing Scotland's treasury with a group called the Octavians. In October 1597, one of the Octavians, Thomas Hamilton, married Foulis's sister Margaret. Foulis was given a role overseeing royal spending on December 29, 1597. However, Foulis went bankrupt because of this plan on January 17, 1598.

Roger Aston wrote that Foulis was like a treasurer but not officially, and after twenty days, he "fell by his wits" and was in "great extremity." David Calderwood called his distress a "frenzy." Aston also noted that Foulis and Jousie had not received the English subsidy for two years.

The English diplomat George Nicolson offered another reason for Foulis's distress. He said King James VI took back a valuable jewel, the Great H of Scotland, that Foulis held as a pledge. The King had given the jewel to Queen Anne, who, Nicolson said, offered it to her friend Elizabeth Douglas, Countess of Erroll as payment for the destruction of Slains Castle. Foulis had received the "H" as a pledge for a loan of £12,000 Scots he made to the King in September 1594. The Privy Council asked Foulis's brother, James Foulis of Colinton, to return it in January 1598.

The immediate cause of Foulis's financial disaster was a legal move by John Lindsay of Menmuir, one of the Octavians. He stopped payments by the comptroller, George Home of Wedderburn. It's not clear if Lindsay, other Octavians, and the King planned this to bankrupt Foulis.

In May 1598, James Hudson wrote that Foulis had pawned a gold lion with a ruby, worth £400, to a London goldsmith named Robert Brook on Lombard Street. Hudson thought this jewel belonged to King James VI. Robert Jousie could not pay Brook's interest or other amounts owed. Hudson considered having Jousie arrested for debt in London.

Foulis recovered from his illness. On August 2, 1598, Foulis and Joussie received a contract to operate the mint for six years. This was to help them recover their losses. The Parliament of Scotland noted that Foulis and Joussie had gone into debt for royal clothing, jewels, cash, and other expenses. Walter Stewart, 1st Lord Blantyre was asked to give them rights over the mint to get their money back. The comptroller George Home of Wedderburn promised to supply the royal households (for James, Anna, Prince Henry, and Princess Elizabeth) and repay Foulis, Jousie, and their creditors in payments.

Foulis and Jousie gave Parliament a statement of their debts. This included £145,700 and £33,000 Scots in interest. They listed the names of their creditors, who had lent them money to help the royal household. These included the Edinburgh Company of Tailors, the merchant and poet John Burell, the English courtier Roger Aston, the Countess of Cassilis, and Bartholomew Kello, the husband of the calligrapher Esther Inglis. Kello's loan of £4,000 was one of the larger contributions. The merchant Jacob Baron had invested £14,822 Scots.

In February 1599, the Privy Council decided that in the future, the Treasurer would manage the English annuity or subsidy. This money would be spent on clothes for the royal family and Prince Henry's household. A report on Scottish royal finances sent to England in February 1600 said that Foulis, Joussie, and their partners were "wrecked and undone." In November 1601, the Privy Council was asked to meet with Foulis and report the value of royal jewels he had sold in England.

Thomas Foulis died in Edinburgh in 1628.

Family Life

Foulis first married Jean Francis, who passed away in 1623. He then married Rachel Porteous. Jean had sons named Thomas and David Foulis of Glendorch, and three daughters: Margaret, Jean, and another who married James McMath. After Foulis's death, his cousin, Anne Foulis, who was married to James Hope of Hopetoun, eventually inherited the mining wealth.