Person Vermuyden; Cornelius (1626 - 1693) Vermuyden Cornelius 1626 - 1693 Male 1626 0 1693 0 Baptism: 19 March 1627

Education: Gray's Inn (admitted 1650) Career: Shareholder in the Bedford Level Company, Conservator (1663); Shareholder in the Royal African Company; left England sometime before the Restoration but later returned Parents: Sir Cornelius Vermuyden and Katerine Lapps Married: Mary Reade Vermuyden was one of the original managers of The Royal Adventurers into Africa, later Royal African Company (RAC). 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. The Royal Society itself held shares in the company from 1682 until 1699. The RAC held a monopoly on English trade on the west coast of Africa. The principal interest of the company was originally gold and secondarily other natural resources. The Company's second charter in 1663 mentions trade in enslaved people, who were mainly sold into slavery on British owned estates in the West Indies and America. The Jesus College Cambridge Legacy of Slavery Working Party has stated that the RAC was responsible for selling more Africans into slavery in America than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade, and that they ran a brutal regime with the full knowledge of their investors. The company became insolvent in 1708, it survived until 1752 when its assets were transferred to the new African Company of Merchants, which lasted until 1821. Committee and panels: Committee of the Histories of Trades (1664) Proposed on 1 April 1661; Experimented with poisonous arrows (1661); Conducted experiments with sympathetic powder (1661); Ejected for non-payment of arrears 29/10/1666 Original Fellow 20/05/1663 36 29/10/1666 Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB (father's entry); GI References: Govier, M. 1999. 'The Royal Society, Slavery and the Island of Jamaica: 1660-1700', in Notes and Records, vol. 53, pp. 203-217 Notes: The election date is Vermuyden's re-election date into the Society after the grant of the second charter in April 1663. All Fellows admitted in a two-month window after this charter, until 22 June 1663, are considered Original Fellows. He was previously mentioned as a member on 19 June 1661. De Beer gives last appearance in list of Fellows as 1672. International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 1626 - 1693 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 19/01/2022 as part of Name Authority Project update. NA3731 21/11/2001 Andyg Martind 15/01/2026 RS_NET\VidaM yes 3597338b-9294-4d12-97dc-f80a07a8c279