"THE FIRST COMMONWEALTH 1649-1659"
THE FIRST COMMONWEALTH 1649-1659 While the World was being discovered by the Continentals, England was embarking on its own voyage of discovery with Democracy and a Republic. The antagonism between the Monarchy and Parliament grew primarily over the use of the taxes gathered from the Nobility who extracted the taxes from the indentured people working on their Agricultural estates. In 1645 Oliver CROMWELL led the Parliamentarian forces (Roundheads) into battle against the Royalists (Cavaliers) at the battle of Naseby. 12,000 Royalist troops were defeated by the 15,000 strong Parliamentarian army. When Charles I was captured by the Scots and handed to Parliament, a tribunal found him guilty of treason and he was executed. Oliver CROMWELL 1649-1658 established the first Commonwealth with himself as the Lord Protector of the Realm. In 1655 The Jews of Amsterdam petitioned CROMWELL to allow the return of the Jews to England. CROMWELL refused. When Oliver COMWELL died in 1658 he bequeathed his title to his son Richard CROMWELL. [***2007 update: After the expulsion of the Jews from England by Edward Longshanks (Edward I) in 1290, many dispersed to France, Portugal and Spain. In those times only England and France had Monarchies. Most of Europe was still under the control of the Holy Roman Emperor (800 - 1806) There was considerable competition between the Sephardi (Mediterranean) and Ashkenazi (Central and Eastern European) Jews for control of Trade from the Colonies. Consequently as the Jews of Amsterdam had failed to obtain the Official Return of the Jews to England, the Jews of Portugal funded the return of Charles II in 1659. (ref "The History of the Jews: From Cromwell's Commonwealth to the Napoleonic Era" Simon DUBNOC, Moshe SPIEGEL (translator). This issue is supported by the following facts: 1 The early minutes of the Board of Deputies of British Jews are written in Portuguese. 2 The Leader of the First fleet to Australia Governor Arthur PHILLIPS was seconded to the Portuguese Navy for 3 years (ref ex-British Ambassador Sir Roger CARRICK presentation to the Australia-Britain Society meeting Australia Day 26 Jan 2007) 3 The First Fleet sailed to Rio De Janeiro on the way to Australia where Vice-Admiral Arthur PHILLIPS was warmly received by the King and Queen of Portugal (ref ex-British Ambassador Sir Roger CARRICK presentation to the Australia-Britain Society meeting Australia Day 26 Jan 2007) This resulted in a far reaching influence on English Law.***} As a result of funding the return of the Monarchy to the English Throne in 1659 the Jews had even more influence on the way that Government and Commercial issues were decided. In 1688 "The Glorious Revolution" saw the British Throne pass to William and Mary of the House of Orange (Holland). William and Mary 1689-1702 accepted the Throne on condition of the Bill of Rights in 1689. These conditions included: 1 Laws could only be made or unmade by Parliament 2 Judges were to be appointed for life and could not be dismissed 3 Parliamentary Elections were to be free elections In 1687 Lloyds Coffee Shop opened in Tower Street London. Initially Lloyds was a gambling club where wagers were placed on whose ship would be first back with the new coffee, tea or spice crop etc. As many ships were lost to Pirates or weather conditions part of the Wager or Premium was allocated for a mutual fund or syndicate to cover the cost of any ship and cargo that was lost. Nearly 100 years later in 1771 seventy nine Underwriters paid BPS 100 to form the Society of Lloyds. This was the foundation for Insurance and charging Premiums. As late as 1983 before containerisation there were claims of between 95-98% on all cargo shipping voyages. The ship owners and ports did not worry about the costs because it all went onto the cost of the retail product. In the meantime the Actuaries that worked out the risk from the statistics just kept increasing the premiums for the shippers. Hence when containerisation came in for Cargo shipping the Insurance Premium rates were still based on loose cargo statistics. These provided even more profit for the shipping Insurance syndicates. There are in excess of 2,500 registered Insurance syndicates as part of Lloyd's of London. In the 70s and 80s many new syndicates were set up to cover high risk issues like asbestos, shipping oil spills and medical bills. Many nouveau riche individuals like Sports stars and Commonwealth high profile people eg Malcolm FRASER were encouraged by their accountants and solicitors to become members of Lloyds. However as members they rarely knew which syndicates carried which risks and many received a financial hiding in the 1990s. Meanwhile the British Aristocracy or Old Money were in the safe syndicates. In 1706 the Bank of England was formed, initially to Finance the cost of the war for William and Mary against France. Tax collection became an even more important issue for the Administration However the Bank of England became the Government financial underwriter to finance many of the companies formed to bring back wealth from the colonies. The British East India Company The British East Africa Company The British West Indies Company The British South Africa Company etc The funds for the Bank were collected as Taxes from the people. Hence it requires little imagination to know who had proposed the new Institution to the recently installed King and Queen from Holland.
