| Authorised form of name | Keene; Sir; Benjamin (1697 - 1757) |
| Dates | 1697 - 1757 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | King's Lynn, Norfolk, England |
| Date of birth | 1697 |
| Place of death | Madrid, Spain |
| Date of death | 15 December 1757 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
St Nicholas, King's Lynn, Norfolk |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
| Activity | Education:
School at King's Lynn; Pembroke College, Cambridge; LLB (1718)
Career:
Agent for the South Sea Company and Consul at Madrid (1724-1727); Minister plenipotentiary at Madrid (1727-1739 and 1748-1757); Negotiated the Treaty of Seville (1729) and a commercial treaty (1750); MP for Maldon, Essex (1740-1741); MP for West Looe, Cornwall (1741-1747); Member of the Board of Trade (1742-1744); Envoy extraordinary to Portugal (1746-1748)
Honours:
KB 1754 (Invested by the King of Spain)
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 31/01/1745 |
| Relationships | Son of Charles Keene, mercer, of King's Lynn |
| OtherInfo | The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in 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 (the Asiento) to supply enslaved Africans to the islands in the 'South Seas' and South America. 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. |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Venn |
| Code | NA6813 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1744/12 | Keene, Sir Benjamin: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 31 January 1745 |
| IM/002492 | Keene, Sir Benjamin | 1841 |