Lot 139

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Lot 139
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South Sea Company Ballot Signed by 28 Board Members
South Sea Company Ballot Signed by 28 Board Members
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Description:

South Sea Company Ballot Signed by 28 Board Members

SOUTH SEA COMPANY. Manuscript Document Signed by 28 Members of the Board of Directors, 1p, 7" x 11.75", London, January 20, 1729, being an election ballot. Addressed at verso to Rev. Dr. Zachary Grey in Cambridge, with Free Frank by George Heathcote, later Lord Mayor of London. Notations in graphite in an unknown hand at verso. Expected folds with minor paper loss; some archival repair; toning; scattered foxing; else near Fine.

Some notable signatories:

* William Bowles (1686-1748), as “Wm. Bowles”, an English glass manufacturer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons for more than 20 years, from 1727 to 1748.

*John Bristow (1701-1768), as “Jno. Bristow”, an English merchant, financier, and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1734 to 1768. Leading figure in Portugal trade.

* Peter Burrell (1692-1756), as “P Burrell”, a British merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1756. Leading figure in Portugal trade.

*Sir John Eyles (1683-1745), as “John Eyles”, a British financier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1713 to 1734. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1726. He served as a Director of the East India Company from 1710-14, and again, from 1717-21.

*John Hanbury, Esq. (1664–1734), as “John Hanbury”, a British ironmaster and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1701 and 1734. Executor of Marlborough.

* Thomas Watts (1689-1742), as “Tho: Watts”, a Member of Parliament for Mitchell from 1734 to 1741.
Watts was prominent as an academy master in London; as a leading figure in the insurance business at the Sun Fire Office; and as a freemason.

The South Sea Company was a British joint-stock company founded in January 1711, created as a public-private partnership to consolidate, and reduce the cost of the national debt. To generate income, in 1713 the company was granted a monopoly to supply African slaves to the islands in the "South Seas" and South America. When the company was created, Britain was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession and Spain and Portugal controlled most of South America. There was thus no realistic prospect that trade would take place, and as it turned out, the Company never realized any significant profit from its monopoly. However, Company stock rose greatly in value as it expanded its operations dealing in government debt and peaked in 1720 before collapsing to little above its original flotation price. The notorious economic bubble thus created, which ruined thousands of investors, became known as the South Sea Bubble.

In Great Britain, many investors were ruined by the share price collapse, and as a result, the national economy diminished substantially. The founders of the scheme engaged in insider trading, by using their advance knowledge of the timings of national debt consolidations to make large profits from purchasing debt in advance. Huge bribes were given to politicians to support the Acts of Parliament necessary for the scheme. Company money was used to deal in its own shares, and selected individuals purchasing shares were given cash loans backed by those same shares to spend on purchasing more shares. The expectation of profits from trade with South America was talked up to encourage the public to purchase shares, but the bubble prices reached far beyond what the actual profits of the business (namely the slave trade) could justify.

The Old South Sea House, formerly the Threadneedle Street institution in the City of London, was the headquarters of the South Sea Company. The building, located on the corner with Bishopsgate was designed around a quadrangle. The back of it apparently burned down in 1826 and was subsequently rebuilt. The building was partly remodeled in the 1850s and was eventually demolished at the end of the 19th century.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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