| Authorised form of name | Neale; Thomas (1641 - 1699); politician and projector |
| Other forms of surname | Neile |
| Dates | 1641 - 1699 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Warnford, Hampshire, England, Europe |
| Date of birth | c. October 1641 |
| Place of death | Whitehall, London, England, Europe |
| Date of death | 17 December 1699 |
| Dates and places | Baptism:
3 October 1641 |
| Occupation | Courtier; Politician |
| Activity | Education:
Clare College, Cambridge (matriculated 1657)
Career:
Commissioner for Assessment for Hampshire (1663-1678); Sheriff of Hampshire (1665-1666); Freeman of the HEIC (1666); Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire (1669-1680); Assistant in the Royal Adventurers into Africa (1670-1671); Commissioner for Recusants (1675); Commissioner for Inquiry into the Mint (1677); Groom-Porter to the King (1684-death); Groom of the Bedchamber (1679-1684); Commissioner for the Mint (1684-1686), Master of the Mint (1686-death); Deputy Governor of the Mines Company (1693); Manager of the Lottery Loan (16984-death); Master of the Transfer Office (1694-1699); subscriber to the National Land Bank (1695); planned and built Shadwell; projected and began the building of Seven Dials
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 01/06/1664 |
| Proposer | Sir John Hoskins |
| Date of ejection or withdrawal | 22 July 1685 |
| Royal Society activity | Royal Society roles:
Council: 1668 |
| Other Royal Society activity | Proposed on 25 May 1664 and admitted on 15 June 1664; Expelled due to non-payment of arrears; Asked to contribute to the building of a Society college (1668) |
| Relationships | Parents: Thomas Neale and Lucy Uvedale
Married: Elizabeth Gould (née Garrard) |
| General context | As part of his long association with the Royal Mint, Neale was on the committee to inquire into irregularities there, which occurred during Henry Slingsby's (FRS 1663) term as master. He was involved in a variety of projects, including for the Mines Company and also obtained a patent on some production equipment. He is most well-known for his development of Seven Dials, a plan of radiating streets from a centre column, in the Borough of Camden.
Until 1673, Neale held stocks in the Honorable East India Company (HEIC), an English and later British company formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region. The company ended up seizing control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent (and briefly Afghanistan) and colonised parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. Originally chartered as the Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies, by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, the East India Company rose to account for half of the world's trade, thereby amassing vast wealth, influence and private armies.
Neale was also an assistant in theRoyal Adventurers into Africa, later the Royal African Company. The RAC was a British trading company established by Royal Charter in 1660 which enslaved and sold African people. The company was chartered by Charles II, the founding royal Patron of the Royal Society, which was also chartered in 1660. The RAC was made up of and funded by members of the Stuart royal family and London merchants many of whom were, or went on to become, Fellows of the Royal Society. |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Venn; Hunter; Henning; ODNB
References:
Sir John Craig, 'The Royal Society and the Royal Mint' in NR 1964 vol 19 pp 156-167
Notes:
DNB says he was not the son of Thomas Neale of Warnford and gives no date of birth.
Altname, and years of birth and death from Hunter. |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/96068749 |
| Royal Society code | NA8407 |