London Lead Company

The company was chartered in 1692 to investors who intended to acquire the lead-smelting works (reverberatory furnaces) of Talbot Clerke, the son of Sir Clement Clerke near Bristol. This apparently did not prove a success, and the company returned the works in 1695 to Talbot Clerke (by then Sir Talbot).

Another group of entrepreneurs, of whom Dr Edward Wright was a leading member, obtained leases in Cumberland in 1693. This, known as Estourt's Copper or Mines Royal Copper was floated as an unincorporated company in 1693. This company, many of whose members were Quakers, is not to be confused with the Society of Mines Royal, which was by then largely moribund. It acquired lead mines in Flintshire from Lethicullier's Copper Company (another unincorporated venture) in 1695. This proved more successful. In 1704, the owners acquired the charter of the defunct The Company for Smelting Down Lead with Pitcoal, and transferred their business to it. The following year, this also took over the Ryton Company, which had reverberatory furnaces at Ryton on Tyne and lead mines on Alston Moor.