The New River Company, formally The Governor and Company of the New River brought from Chadwell and Amwell to London, was a privately-owned water supply company in London, England, originally formed around 1609 and incorporated in 1619 by royal charter. Founded by Hugh Myddelton with the involvement of King James I, it was one of the first joint-stock utility companies, and paved the way for large-scale private investment in London's water infrastructure in the centuries which followed.
The New River Company was formed to manage the New River, a 42-mile (68km) artificial aqueduct which had been completed a few years earlier by Myddelton, with the backing of the King and the City, to supply fresh water to London. During its history, the company maintained a large network of pipes to distribute water around much of North London, collecting rates from water users.
The company's headquarters were at New River Head in Clerkenwell, Islington, and the company became a significant landowner in the surrounding area, laying out streets which take their name from people and places associated with the company, including Amwell Street, River Street, Mylne Street, Chadwell Street and Myddelton Square.
The company was finally dissolved in 1904 when London's water supply was taken into municipal ownership, and its assets were acquired by the newly-formed Metropolitan Water Board.
Although London's water supply infrastructure dates back at least to the construction of the Great Conduit in 1247, by the early 17th century water was still scarce, and most Londoners relied on pumps or water carriers which supplied increasingly polluted water. The City of London had funded several early water works in the 16th century, which supplemented the conduit system by drawing water from the tidal Thames, but these were small operations, and London's population continued to grow.
An Act for explanation a statute made the third year of the reign of King James, intituled, "An Act for the bringing in of a fresh stream of running water to the north parts of the city of London."
Sir John Backhouse, a founding member of the New River Company. The Round Pond, the company's first reservoir, can be seen in the painting he rests his hand on.
Edmund Colthurst originally conceived a scheme to build an artificial waterway from springs near Ware in Hertfordshire to supply water to London. In 1604 he was granted a patent from King James I to construct the New River. By early 1605, after Colthurst had dug 3 miles (4.8km) of channel, the City intervened, and began the process of obtaining an act of Parliament despite Colthurst's protests. [1]:9[2]:41 In 1605, an act of Parliament, the New River Act 1605 (3 Jas. 1. c. 18) was passed, granting the City the power to construct the New River, but without making any provision for funding, or providing any powers of compulsory purchase.[L 1]
A second act, the New River Act 1606 (4 Jas. 1. c. 12) was passed the following year, making further provisions about the construction of the New River.[L 2][1]:10 In 1609, Hugh Myddelton agreed to construct and fund the project. As the New River was unincorporated, the agreement was phrased in terms of property law, with investors owning a share of freehold in the whole project. [1]:12–13
By early 1610, the project had stalled after around 10 miles (16km), with some landowners refusing to allow the New River to be built over their land, and members of the public concerned about a public utility being privately-held. A bill was put before Parliament to abolish the project, but before this could be considered, the Blessed Parliament was dissolved, and Parliament was not to productively meet again until 1621.[1]:15
Once Parliament was dissolved, Myddelton obtained permission from the City to extend the works for five more years, although the objections to the project still remained. On 2 May 1612, Myddelton reached an agreement with King James I, where the King (who was trying to become less financially dependent on Parliament at the time) committed to funding half of the project in return for a share of the profits, and promised his support. [1]:15–16[2]:57 The King's support was crucial in convincing the remaining landowners to allow the New River over their property.
By this point, Myddelton was short of money, and needed a way to raise more funds for his half of the project. He split his holding of the New River into 36 parts; the modern concept of a share had not yet fully formed, and the New River shares were a novel concept which could not promise a return of capital, more akin to "tenants in common" in property law. [1]:3–4 These shares were sold to "adventurers" (shareholders), the first of whom was Henry Neville. Four shares, without any liability for capital calls, were given to Colthurst for the "greate labour and endeavour by him bestowed about the said worke". [1]:18–19
The New River was officially opened on Michaelmas Day 1613, with a celebration at New River Head, after £18,524 16s had been spent on the project,[1]:17,22 but the New River Company's investment continued as they laid wooden pipes made of elm throughout the city to distribute the water. The King wrote to the City to encourage them to increase uptake of the New River water, as he was becoming anxious about the return on his investment.[1]:23–26
Incorporation
The New River Company was incorporated by royal charter on 21 June 1619 with Myddelton as governor. However, the charter left a number of aspects unclear: it effectively granted a monopoly on water supply in London, and the City had conferred their water supply rights to Myddelton personally, which had never been transferred. These legal ambiguities would take many years to be resolved. [1]:31,51
By the time of incorporation, the company had over 1,000 customers, and the water provided by the springs was becoming insufficient. In 1620, the company decided to divert water from the nearby River Lea into the New River, although this was not permitted by either the statutes or the company's charter, and caused complaints from bargemen and the public in the area until this arrangement was eventually approved by Parliament in 1738. [L 3][1]:32
The Crown Clog
In 1631, King Charles I, who was unhappy with the returns made by the King's share of the company, negotiated an agreement where Myddelton would buy the share back, in return for a lump sum of £500 and an annual payment of £500 in perpetuity. This became known as the Crown Clog. [1]:191–192
The King's share was divided into 36 parts to match the adventurers' shares, and although the Crown Clog was originally paid by Myddelton personally, it subsequently came to be attached to 29 of the King's shares and two of the adventurers' shares. The King's shares also did not confer the right to appoint a director to the board, so these shares traded at a discount to the adventurers' shares. [1]:196[2]:57
Property
The New River Company originally owned 50 acres (20ha) of land around New River Head to allow for the many wooden water mains running outward from there. With the advent of iron pipes around 1811, the company was able to run larger water mains underground, taking care to run them in a pattern where streets could be laid out above. As the district of Clerkenwell grew up in the area, the New River Company started making significant income from leasing land, as well as supplying water. Many of the streets in the area still bear the names given to them by the New River Company, and the company's chief engineer, William Chadwell Mylne, was the architect of the local church, St Mark's. [1]:109–111
Public ownership
In 1904, the water supply business of the New River Company was taken into public ownership under the provisions of the Metropolis Water Act 1902, and transferred to the Metropolitan Water Board. A total of £6,000,534 was paid to the shareholders and directors in compensation, which was paid in "water stock", paying a 3% annual dividend. [1]:186 Through municipalization the New River Company became a direct ancestor of the current Thames Water company, the main water supplier to London today.
Over the 292 years since Myddelton divided his holding in the New River Company into shares, and taking the purchase price into account, the annual yield on an original New River share has been calculated at over 267%. [1]:67
After municipalization, the Crown Clog came to be paid by the Water Board, which paid it until 1956 when it was bought out for £8,230. Had the Crown retained the King's share for the lifetime of the New River Company, it would have made fifty times more than the Clog paid. [1]:193-195
The company's unrelated property holdings were transferred to a new company, the New River Company Limited, which survives today as a subsidiary of Derwent London.
Legislation
↑ New River Act 1605 (3 Jas. 1. c. 18) An Acte for the bringing in of a fresh Streame of running water to the North parts of the Citie of London
↑ New River Act 1606 (4 Jas. 1. c. 12) An Act for explanation of the Statute made in the third yeere of the reigne of King James, Intituled An Act for bginging of a fresh Streame of running water to the North parts of the Cittie of London
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 realised 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 suddenly 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.
Clerkenwell is an area of central London, England.
The New River is an artificial waterway in England, opened in 1613 to supply London with fresh drinking water taken from Chadwell and Amwell Springs near Ware in Hertfordshire, and later the River Lea and other sources. Originally conceived by Edmund Colthurst and completed by Hugh Myddelton, it was operated by the New River Company for nearly 300 years until London's water supply was taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board in 1904.
Robert Mylne was a Scottish architect and civil engineer, particularly remembered for his design for Blackfriars Bridge in London. Born and raised in Edinburgh, he travelled to Europe as a young man, studying architecture in Rome under Piranesi. In 1758, he became the first Briton to win the triennial architecture competition at the Accademia di San Luca. This made his name known in London, and won him the rivalry of fellow Scot Robert Adam.
Sir Cornelius Vermuyden was a Dutch engineer who introduced Dutch land reclamation methods to England.
Sir Thomas Myddelton was a Welsh merchant who was Lord Mayor of London before becoming a Member of Parliament for London.
Sir Hugh Myddelton, 1st Baronet was a Welsh clothmaker, entrepreneur, mine-owner, goldsmith, banker and self-taught engineer. The spelling of his name is inconsistently reproduced, but Myddelton appears to be the earliest, and most consistently used in place names associated with him.
William Chadwell Mylne, FRS was an English civil engineer and architect. He was descended from a Scottish family of masons and architects, and was the second son of Robert Mylne (1733–1811), surveyor to the New River Company, and builder of the first Blackfriars Bridge in London.
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Robert William Mylne, FRS FRSE FGS FRIBA was an English architect, civil engineer and geologist.
Edmund Colthurst was a wealthy English landowner who inherited the former monastic estates of Hinton Priory and Bath Abbey, Somerset, following the death of his father in 1559. He was the son of Matthew Colthurst and Anne Grimston. He married Elinor de la Rivere, daughter of Thomas de la Rivere, with whom he had eight children.
The history of company law in the United Kingdom concerns the change and development in UK company law within the context of the history of companies, deriving from its predecessors in Roman and English law. Company law in its current form dates from the mid-nineteenth century, however other forms of business association developed long before.
Samuel Backhouse was an English merchant who later became a country gentleman based in the county of Berkshire. He was a member of Parliament (MP) twice early in James I's reign, first for New Windsor in 1604 and then for Aylesbury in 1614.
New River Head is a historic site located adjacent to Sadler's Wells Theatre on Rosebery Avenue and Amwell Street in the Clerkenwell area of London, England. Originally it was the London terminus of the New River, an artificial watercourse opened in 1613 to supply water to London. Subsequently the site also became the headquarters for the New River Company, the owners of the New River, and for its successors, the Metropolitan Water Board, the Thames Water Authority and Thames Water plc.
Myddelton Square, the largest square in Central London's Clerkenwell, is a residential public garden square of the 1820s to 1840s, with playground, with many trees; its houses are built with exposed brickwork, Georgian style, with high-ceilinged ground and first-floor storeys. Two of its houses were obliterated and rebuilt, and two declared unsafe and rebuilt, in the London Blitz.
St Mark's Church is an Anglican church in the middle of Myddelton Square, the largest square in London's Clerkenwell district.
This is a list of the etymology of street names and principal buildings in the London districts of Clerkenwell and Finsbury, in the London Borough of Islington. The Clerkenwell/Finsbury area has no formally defined boundaries - those used here are: Pentonville Road to the north, Goswell Road to the east, Clerkenwell Road to the south and Gray's Inn Road to the west. Finsbury was traditionally roughly the northern part of the area covered here, however in practice the name is rarely used these days.
The Bedford Level Corporation was founded in England in 1663 to manage the draining of the Fens of East Central England. It formalised the legal status of the Company of Adventurers previously formed by the Duke of Bedford to reclaim 95,000 acres of the Bedford Level.
Robert Myddelton was a Welsh politician who served as MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis and the City of London in the Parliament of England.
The West Middlesex Waterworks Act 1806 was a local act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that incorporated and established the West Middlesex Waterworks Company for the purposes of supplying various parishes and townships in the counties of Middlesex and Surrey from the River Thames.
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