102 IIHJH MYDDELTON, GOLDSMITH AXD PART H. 



bable that Captain William Myddelton, who lived in 

 London * after his return from the Spanish main in 1591, 

 formed an occasional member of the group ; for Pennant 

 states that he and his friend Captain Thomas Price, of 

 Plasgollen, and another, Captain Koet, were the first 

 who smoked, or as they then called it, " drank " tobacco 

 publicly in London, and that the Londoners flocked from 

 all parts to see them. 2 



Hugh Myddelton did not confine himself to the trade 

 of a goldsmith, but from an early period his enterprising 

 spirit led him to embark in ventures of trade by sea ; 

 and hence, when we find his name first mentioned in 

 the year 1597, in the records of his native town of 

 Denbigh, of which he was an alderman and " capitall 

 burgess," as well as the representative in Parliament, he 

 is described as " Cittizen and Grouldsmythe of London, 

 and one of the Merchant Adventurers of England." 

 The trade of London was as yet very small, but a 

 beginning had been made. A charter was granted 

 by Henry VII., in 1505, to the Company of Merchant 

 Adventurers of England, conferring on them special 

 privileges. Previous to that time, almost the whole 

 trade had been monopolized by the Steelyard Company 

 of Foreign Merchants, whose exclusive privileges were 

 formally withdrawn in 1 5 5 2 . But for want of an English 

 mercantile navy, the greater part of the foreign carrying 

 trade of the country continued long after to be conducted 

 by foreign ships. 



The withdrawal of the privileges of the foreign mer- 

 chants in England had, however, an immediate effect in 

 stimulating the home trade, as is proved by the fact, that 

 in the year following the suppression of the foreign com- 

 pany, the English Merchant Adventurers shipped off 



1 He resided at the old Elizabethan | 2 'Tour in Wales,' vol. ii., p. 31. 



house in Highgate, afterwards occu- Ed. 1784. 



pied as an inn, called the " King's 3 Williains's ' Ancient and Modern 



Head." iVnhMi,' p. 105. 



