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A fleet of East Indiamen at sea
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This painting has the alternative title 'Ships of the East India Company at Sea' but was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1803 as 'The Hindostan, G. Millet[t], commander, and senior officer of eighteen sail of East Indiamen, with the signal to wear, sternmost and leewardmost ships first'. (That is, for the fleet to alter course to the opposite tack, in the sequence indicated, with the wind astern.) It is believed to represent the convoy under George Millett, as commodore, during their return voyage from China early in 1802. The 'Hindostan', in the centre, was a large East Indiaman of 1248 tons, built in 1796 to replace a previous vessel of the same name that had been sold to the Navy. The new 'Hindostan' undertook three voyages in the service of the Company, the last being the one illustrated. On 11 January 1803, at the start of a fourth voyage, she was lost during a heavy gale on Margate Sands with up to thirty of her crew. Eleven of the other vessels in the convoy depicted here are known to have reached their moorings in England between 11 and 14 July 1802: the 'Lord Hawkesbury', 'Worcester', 'Boddam', 'Fort William', 'Airly Castle', 'Lord Duncan', 'Ocean', 'Henry Addington', 'Carnatic', 'Hope' and 'Windham'. The other ships have not been identified but are also presumed to have done so.
The British East India Company was the first joint-stock corporation to be formed in England, and it eventually became one of the most powerful trading companies in the world, with a virtual monopoly on trade in India and the East Indies. The East India Company or the British East India Company and informally as John Company was an English and later British joint-stock company, which was formed to pursue trade with the East Indies but ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and Qing China. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean. Permission was granted, and on 10 April 1591 three ships sailed from Torbay around the Cape of Good Hope to the Arabian Sea. On 31 December 1600, the Queen granted a Royal Charter to "George, Earl of Cumberland, and 215 Knights, Aldermen, and Burgesses" under the name, Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading with the East Indies. The governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or "committees", who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, which appointed them. Ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was initially transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolph's church in Bishopsgate, before moving to India House in Leadenhall Street. The company played a key role in the spread of British influence in India and the development of the British Empire. However, it also became involved in corruption and exploitation, and it was eventually dissolved in 1858, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
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