William Courten facts for kids
Sir William Courten (born 1572, died 1636) was a very rich merchant in the 1600s. He worked from London, England. He helped pay for people to settle on the island of Barbados. But he lost his money and his claim to the island. This happened because of a dispute with the Earl of Carlisle.
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Early Life and Family
William Courten was born in London in 1572. His parents were William Courten and Margaret Casiere. He had a younger brother named Peter, born in 1581.
Their father was a tailor from a town called Menin. He was a Protestant. He had to leave his home because of problems with the Spanish. He came to England in 1568 with his wife, daughter Margaret, and her husband Michael Boudean.
The family first made French hoods (a type of hat) in London. Later, they started trading in silk and linen.
Starting a Business and Becoming a Knight
When William was young, he went to Haarlem in Holland to work for his father's business. His brother Peter went to Cologne.
In Haarlem, William married the daughter of a Dutch merchant, Peter Cromling. She was deaf and could not speak. Her family gave William a large amount of money, about £60,000.
Around 1600, William came back to London. Peter stayed in Holland as his agent. In 1606, the two brothers joined with their brother-in-law, John Moncy. They wanted to make their silk and linen business even bigger. William put in half of the money for the business.
Their company, Courten & Moncy, did very well. By 1631, they had about £150,000. Because they were so important in the city, both brothers became knights. William became a knight on May 31, 1622. Peter became a knight on February 22, 1623.
Ships, Trade, and Barbados
William Courten did not only focus on his London business. He also built ships. He traded goods with places like Guinea, Portugal, Spain, and the West Indies. At one point, he had a fleet of 20 ships. These ships had almost 5,000 sailors working on them.
Around 1624, one of his ships found an island that no one lived on. Courten named it Barbadoes. His agents in Holland had suggested this trip to him.
To make the most of his discovery, he asked the king for permission. He wanted to own any unknown land in the southern part of the world. He called this land 'Terra Australis Incognita'.
In 1625, he sent some people to start a settlement on Barbados. On February 25, 1628, he received official papers. These papers allowed him to start a colony there. The papers gave the land to the Earl of Pembroke to hold for Sir William Courten.
Courten then started a large settlement project. He sent two ships with 1,850 people to Barbados. Captain Powel led these ships. When they arrived, Captain Powel became the governor of the island.
However, this plan did not go well. Three years later, another powerful person, James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, said he owned Barbados. He claimed this based on papers from 1627 and 1628. These papers said he owned all the Caribbee islands between 10 and 20 degrees latitude. Barbados is at 13 degrees latitude.
In 1629, Carlisle sent two ships to take over the island. Henry Hawley was his representative. When they arrived, they put Captain Powel in prison. They made sure that Lord Carlisle was in charge of the island. Barbados stayed under Carlisle's control until 1646.
Courten said he lost £44,000 because of these events. He left it to his family to try and get the money back.
Later Life and Challenges
Sir William Courten and another merchant, Sir Paul Pindar, often worked together. They lent a lot of money to King James I and King Charles I. Together, they lent about £200,000. They never got this money back, which caused many problems later.
Courten also faced other difficulties. Dutch ships in the East Indies caused him to lose ships and goods. This happened after an event called the Amboyna massacre.
In 1631, his brother Peter died. Peter was his agent in Holland. This made things even harder for William. Peter had not married and left £10,000 to his nephew, Peter Boudean. This nephew was living in Holland. Boudean had argued with William. He tried to hurt William's business in every way he could. To get his money from Peter's estate, Boudean took all the property of Courten & Moncy in Holland.
John Moncy, William's business partner, also died in 1632. Courten was one of the people in charge of Moncy's will. Peter Boudean was the other. But Boudean refused to help. Courten went to court to get his share of the money from his brother and partner. These legal battles continued long after William's death.
Despite these problems, Courten was still very rich. In 1628, he paid King Charles I £5,000. In return, he received land in Northamptonshire, England. By 1633, his land in England brought in £6,500 a year. He also had £128,000 in other money.
He still loved sea travel and trade. In his last years, he started trading with the East Indies again. In 1635, King Charles I gave him a special license. This allowed his company, the Courteen association, to trade in the East. They could trade in any place where the East India Company was not already present.
He sent two ships, the Dragon and the Katherine, to trade with China. But the ships never reached their destination. This huge loss was a final blow to Courten. He died in May or June 1636. He was buried in a church in London. In his will, he left money to many charity groups. But his claims for money from the king, his nephew, and Lord Carlisle were still not settled when he died.
Family and Legacy
Sir William Courten had a son named Peter with his first wife. This Peter became a baronet in 1622. He married Jane Stanhope but died without children in 1625.
William's second wife was Moses Tryon's daughter. They had a son, also named William, and three daughters: Hester, Mary, and Anna.
William, the younger son, found his father's money tied up in legal problems. His cousin, Peter Boudean, refused to give back any of the Dutch property. The legal fights continued.
The younger William married Catharine Egerton. He wanted to continue his father's business. With help from his father-in-law, he rented two ships. These ships were called the Bona Esperanza and the Henry Bonaventura. He planned to trade in the East Indies. He put almost all his money into this plan. But in 1641, the Dutch seized his ships and their goods.
William's father-in-law refused to help him anymore. The government was also in a difficult state, so they could not help. In 1643, William went bankrupt.
His land was given to his brother-in-law, the Earl of Kent. William moved to Italy. His wife tried to make a deal with Peter Boudean, but it did not work. She then joined her husband in Florence, Italy. William died there in 1655.
His two children, William and Katharine, survived him. The younger William tried to get some of his father's property back. In 1660, King Charles II allowed George Carew to manage the estates of Sir William and his son. Carew had worked with Sir William Courten.
Legal actions also started in Holland against the Dutch East India Company. They wanted money for the ships lost in 1641. People kept asking the English courts and parliament for help until the end of the 1600s. But most of Sir William Courten's huge wealth never reached his family.
In August 1660, the Privy Council heard evidence about Courten's grandson's claim to Barbados. But they did not think there was enough proof. In 1677, people asked the council and parliament again. They reminded them about the money Courten and Sir Paul Pindar lent to Charles I. But the money was never paid back.
A famous doctor and collector named Hans Sloane later received Courten's collection of interesting objects in 1702. He later gave much of it to the British government.
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