The Company of Mineral and Battery Works was (with the Society of Mines Royal) one of two mining monopolies created by Queen Elizabeth I in the mid 1560s. The Company's rights were based on a patent granted to William Humfrey on 17 September 1565. This was replaced on 28 May 1568 by a patent of incorporation, making it an early joint stock company. The Society of Mines Royal was incorporated on the same day. Company of Mineral and Battery Works had the monopoly right: Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603 ) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... William Shakespeare is born. ... William Humfrey (also Humphrey or Humphreys) (d 1579) was a goldsmith and Assay Master to Queen Elizabeth I of England. ... // Events March 1 - the city of Rio de Janeiro is founded. ... Events March 23 - Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. ...

• to make battery wares (items of beaten metal), cast work, and wire of latten, iron and steel.
• to mine calamine stone and use it to make 'latten' and other mixed metals
• to mine 'royal metals' in various English counties, most of which in fact contained little of those minerals. (Most of the metal used by the Company of Mineral and Battery works was mined by the Society of Mines Royal, with which the Mineral and Battery Works maintained a close relationship).

Determined to make England less dependent on foreign goods, Elizabeth I in 1568 granted a patent of incorporation to William Humfrey (a former Assay master of the Royal Mint), who had worked closely with William Cecil in setting up the first British wireworks at Tintern in 1567-8. Humfrey hired and brought to England a German copper maker, Christopher Schultz, along with his entire workshop. Initial goals included the production of brass in addition to the iron wire which was necessary for producing the cards (combs) required by the British wool industry, which had previously been imported. Due in part to difficulties with local materials however, the production of brass at the wireworks went poorly, and the more profitable production of iron wire became paramount. General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ... Calamine is a historic name for an ore of zinc. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603 ) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 1521–4 August 1598), was an English politician, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign. ... The River Wye viewed from a former railway bridge with Tintern village in the background Tintern is a village on the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, at Grid reference SO530000. ...

The works were eventually let to 'farmers,' the first being Sir Richard Martyn, Richard Hanbery, and a Mr. Palmer, in 1571. Later farmers included Richard Hanbury, Thomas Hackett (from 1613), Sir Basil Brooke of Madeley (from 1627) and Thomas Foley of Great Witley (from 1648). Events January 11 - Austrian nobility is granted Freedom of religion. ... Events January - Galileo observes Neptune, but mistakes it for a star and so is not credited with its discovery. ... Sir Basil Brooke (1576-1646), metallurgist and recusant, inherited the manor of Madeley from his father. ... Events A Dutch ship makes the first recorded sighting of the coast of South Australia. ... 1648 (MDCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...

The farmers were sometimes accused of poor management, and although the import of foreign cards was affirmed to be illegal in 1597, wire was at that time permitted to be imported from abroad, perhaps affirming the complaints of manufacturers of wire goods, who maintained that English wire was often of poor quality and in insufficient supply. Events 17 January - A court case in Guildford recorded evidence that a certain plot of land was used for playing “kreckett” (i. ...

The Company built a further wireworks at Whitebrook (north of Tintern) in 1607. Due to competition from the import of foreign cards (which was supposed to be illegal), his son (another Thomas Foley) reduced the rent that he was prepared to pay to the Company in the 1680s. The Tintern wireworks operated successfully until about 1895. Events and Trends The Treaty of Ratisbon between France and England in 1684 ended the Age of Buccaneers. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

The company licensed its right to use calamine to make brass in 1587 to a group of company members led by John Brode. They set up brass works at Isleworth, but a decade later the company obstructed them from mining calamine. Calamine brass is brass produced by a particular alloying technique using calamine, a zinc ore, rather than metallic zinc. ... 1587 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...

The company also engaged in litigation over lead mining in Derbyshire, which it alleged to be infringing its monopoly. For PB or pb as an abbreviation, see PB. General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish gray Atomic mass 207. ... Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. ...

In the 17th century the company was not particularly active, but periodically granted licences for mining or industrial activities that would infringe its rights. It amalgamated with the Society of Mines Royal. Ultimately in 1689, the passing of the Mines Royal Act effectively removed the monopoly rights of both companies, and joint company became moribund. Events Louis XIV of France passed the Code Noir, allowing the full use of slaves in the French colonies. ...

The charter passed into the hands of Moses Stringer, and the subsequent history of the company is obscure. It may have been used as cover for an insurance scheme, and in connection with William Wood's probably fraudulent scheme for smelting iron with coal. The company may have had a copper battery work at (or near) Rogerstone near Newport. A company called Mines Royal, which may (or may not) have been the same had a copper works at Neath Abbey in Glamorgan from 1757. For other uses, see Newport (disambiguation). ... Neath Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, located near the present-day town of Neath. ... 1757 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

See also

• Case of Mines - 1568 court case also known as R v. Earl of Northumberland

References

• M. B. Donald, Elizabethan Monopolies (1961).
• H. Hamilton, The English Brass and Copper Industries (1926).
• H. W. Paar and D. G. Tucker, 'The old wireworks and ironworks of the Angidy valley at Tintern, Gwent' Historical Metallurgy 9(1) (1975), 1-14.
• D. G. Tucker, 'The Seventeenth Century Wireworks at Whitebrook Monmouthshire' Historical Metallurgy 7(1), (1973), 28-35.
• W. Rees, Industry before the Industrial Revolution II (1968).
• H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry from c.450 to 1775 (1957).
• L. Ince, Neath Abbey and the Industrial Revolution (2001).