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Company of Scotland (Darien Company)

Type Object Region Scotland Time 1695–1707

Established by the Scottish Parliament on June 26, 1695, with a monopoly on trade with Africa and the East Indies;…

Timeline

  1. 1695–1696Parliament House, Edinburgh · EdinburghThe Scottish Parliament passed the Company for Africa and the East Indies Act, granting the right to establish trading posts, colonies, and forts, and to make treaties with native rulers, intending to rival the English East India Company. William Paterson strongly advocated shortening the voyage to East Asia via an isthmian transit. The London share was soon withdrawn due to East India Company opposition and threats of impeachment; by 1696 Scottish subscriptions reached the revised target of about £400,000.
  2. 1698–1699New Edinburgh, Darien (New Caledonia) · DarienAbout 1,200 people sailed in five ships from Leith, landing at Darien in November 1698, where they built Fort St Andrew and New Edinburgh, calling the place New Caledonia. Poor resupply, disease, and failed trade made the colony hard to sustain; William III also ordered the British American colonies not to aid it. The settlement was abandoned in July 1699, with only about 300 of the 1,200 surviving. Paterson accompanied the expedition; his wife died there.
  3. 1699–1700Fort St Andrew, Darien · DarienA second batch of over a thousand arrived in late November 1699, only to find the camp abandoned. The colonists rebuilt the stronghold, attacked the Spanish fort of Toubacanti in January 1700, were then besieged at Fort St Andrew, surrendered about a month later, and withdrew in April. Of roughly 2,500 who set out in total, only a few hundred survived. The Darien scheme failed both militarily and financially.
  4. 1700–1707Edinburgh · EdinburghThe company later sought other routes, but clashed again with the English East India Company. The Darien failure consumed about a quarter of Scotland's liquid capital, with about 2,000 lives lost. The 1707 Union terms arranged an 'equivalent sum' of about £398,000, partly compensating investors and offsetting Scotland's share of the English national debt. The company was liquidated; its offices were later used by the Commissioners of the Equivalent.

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