1.
Fellow of the Royal Society
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As of 2016, there are around 1600 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members. Fellowship of the Royal Society has been described by The Guardian newspaper as “the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar” with several institutions celebrating their announcement each year. Up to 60 new Fellows, honorary and foreign members are elected annually usually in May, each candidate is considered on their merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Fellows are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRS, see Category, Fellows of the Royal Society and Category, Female Fellows of the Royal Society. Every year, Fellows elect up to ten new Foreign Members, like Fellows, Foreign Members are elected for life through peer review on the basis of excellence in science. As of 2016 there are around 165 Foreign Members, who are entitled to use the post-nominal ForMemRS, see Category, Foreign Members of the Royal Society. Honorary Fellows include Bill Bryson, Melvyn Bragg, Robin Saxby, David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, Honorary Fellows are entitled to use the post nominal letters HonFRS. Others including John Maddox, Patrick Moore and Lisa Jardine were elected as honorary fellows, statute 12 is a legacy mechanism for electing members before official honorary membership existed in 1997. Fellows elected under statute 12 include David Attenborough and John Palmer, prime Ministers of the United Kingdom such as Margaret Thatcher, Neville Chamberlain, H. H. Asquith were elected under statute 12, see Category, Fellows of the Royal Society. The Council of the Royal Society can recommend members of the British Royal Family for election as Royal Fellows of the Royal Society. As of 2016 there are five royal fellows, Charles, Prince of Wales, Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II is not a Royal Fellow, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was elected under statute 12, not as a Royal Fellow. The election of new fellows is announced annually in May, after their nomination, each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership is nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society, who sign a certificate of proposal. Previously, nominations required at least five fellows to support each nomination by the proposer, the certificate of election includes a statement of the principal grounds on which the proposal is being made. There is no limit on the number of nominations each year. In 2015, there were 654 candidates for election as Fellows and 106 candidates for Foreign Membership. The final list of up to 52 Fellowship candidates and up to 10 Foreign Membership candidates is confirmed by the Council in April, a candidate is elected if he or she secures two-thirds of votes of those Fellows present and voting. A further maximum of six can be ‘Honorary’, ‘General’ or ‘Royal’ Fellows, nominations for Fellowship are peer reviewed by sectional committees, each with fifteen members and a chair
2.
Master of the Rolls
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The position dates from at least 1286, although it is believed that the office probably existed earlier than that. The Master of the Rolls was initially a clerk responsible for keeping the Rolls, or records, of the Court of Chancery, the Keeper was the most senior of the dozen Chancery clerks, and as such occasionally acted as keeper of the Great Seal of the Realm. The post evolved into a one as the Court of Chancery did. He retained his functions as the nominal head of the Public Record Office until the Public Records Act 1958 transferred responsibility for it to the Lord Chancellor. One residual reminder of this role is the fact that the Master of the Rolls of the day continues to serve, ex officio, the Master of the Rolls was also previously responsible for registering solicitors, the officers of the Senior Courts. One of the most prominent people to hold the position was Thomas Cromwell, on 3 October 2016, Sir Terence Etherton succeeded Lord Dyson as Master of the Rolls. Category, Masters of the Rolls Hanworth, Lord, some Notes on the Office of Master of the Rolls. The Judges of England 1272–1990, a list of judges of the superior courts
3.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
4.
University College London
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University College London is a public research university in London, England, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It is the largest postgraduate institution in the UK by enrollment and is regarded as one of the worlds leading research universities. UCL also makes the claims of being the third-oldest university in England. In 1836 UCL became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London, which was granted a charter in the same year. UCL has its campus in the Bloomsbury area of central London, with a number of institutes and teaching hospitals elsewhere in central London. UCL is organised into 11 constituent faculties, within there are over 100 departments, institutes. In 2015/16, UCL had around 38,300 students and 12,000 staff and had an income of £1.36 billion. UCL ranks highly in national and international league tables and its graduates rank among the most employable in the world, UCL academics discovered five of the naturally occurring noble gases, co-discovered hormones, invented the vacuum tube, and made several foundational advances in modern statistics. There are at least 29 Nobel Prize winners and 3 Fields medalists amongst UCLs alumni and current, UCL was founded on 11 February 1826 under the name London University, as an alternative to the Anglican universities of Oxford and Cambridge. London Universitys first Warden was Leonard Horner, who was the first scientist to head a British university and this suggests that while his ideas may have been influential, he himself was less so. In 1827, the Chair of Political Economy at London University was created, with John Ramsay McCulloch as the first incumbent, in 1828 the university became the first in England to offer English as a subject and the teaching of Classics and medicine began. In 1830, London University founded the London University School, which would later become University College School, in 1833, the university appointed Alexander Maconochie, Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society, as the first professor of geography in the UK. In 1834, University College Hospital opened as a hospital for the universitys medical school. In 1836, London University was incorporated by charter under the name University College. The Slade School of Fine Art was founded as part of University College in 1871, in 1878, the University of London gained a supplemental charter making it the first British university to be allowed to award degrees to women. The same year, UCL admitted women to the faculties of Arts and Law and of Science, although women remained barred from the faculties of Engineering and of Medicine. Armstrong College, an institution of Newcastle University, also allowed women to enter from its foundation in 1871. Women were finally admitted to medical studies during the First World War in 1917, in 1898, Sir William Ramsay discovered the elements krypton, neon and xenon whilst professor of chemistry at UCL
5.
Edward Coke
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Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and, later, opposition politician, who is considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, before leaving to study at the Inner Temple. Following a promotion to Attorney General he led the prosecution in several cases, including those against Robert Devereux, Sir Walter Raleigh. As a reward for his services he was first knighted and then made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and these actions eventually led to his transfer to the Chief Justiceship of the Kings Bench, where it was felt he could do less damage. Coke then successively restricted the definition of treason and declared a royal letter illegal, with no chance of regaining his judicial posts, he instead returned to Parliament, where he swiftly became a leading member of the opposition. In America, Cokes decision in Dr, the surname Coke, or Cocke, can be traced back to a William Coke in the hundred of South Greenhoe, now the Norfolk town of Swaffham, in around 1150. The family was prosperous and influential – members from the 14th century onwards included an Under-Sheriff, a Knight Banneret, a barrister. The name Coke was pronounced /ˈkuːk/ during the Elizabethan age, although it is now pronounced /ˈkʊk/, the origins of the name are uncertain, theories are that it was a word for river among early Britons, or was descended from the word Coc, or leader. Another hypothesis is that it was an attempt to disguise the word cook, Cokes father, Robert Coke, was a barrister and Bencher of Lincolns Inn who built up a strong practice representing clients from his home area of Norfolk. Over time, he bought several manors at Congham, Westacre and Happisburgh and was granted a coat of arms, Cokes mother, Winifred Knightley, came from a family even more intimately linked with the law than her husband. This connection later served Edward well, winifreds father later married Agnes, the sister of Nicholas Hare. Edward Coke was born on 1 February 1552 in Mileham, one of eight children, the other seven were daughters – Winifred, Dorothy, Elizabeth, Ursula, Anna, Margaret and Ethelreda – although it is not known in which order the children were born. Two years after Robert Coke died on 15 November 1561, his widow married Robert Bozoun, at the age of eight in 1560, Coke began studying at the Norwich Free Grammar School. The students were taught rhetoric based on the Rhetorica ad Herennium, Coke was taught at Norwich to value the forcefulness of freedom of speech, something he later applied as a judge. Some accounts relate that he was a diligent student who applied himself well, after leaving Norwich in 1567 he matriculated to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied for three years until the end of 1570, when he left without gaining a degree. Little is known of his time at Trinity, though he studied rhetoric. His biographers felt he had all the intelligence to be a good student, after leaving Trinity College he travelled to London, where he became a member of Cliffords Inn in 1571. Coke also studied various writs till they turned honey sweet on his tongue, at the Inner Temple he began the second stage of his education, reading legal texts such as Glanvilles Treatises and taking part in moots
6.
Middle Temple
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It is located in the wider Temple area of London, near the Royal Courts of Justice, and within the City of London. In the 13th century, the Inns of Court originated as hostels and schools for student lawyers, the Middle Temple is the western part of The Temple, the headquarters of the Knights Templar until they were dissolved in 1312. The Temple Church still stands as a church of the Inner. Most of the Inn is occupied by offices, known as chambers. One of the Middle Temples main functions now is to provide education, Middle Temple Hall is at the heart of the Inn, and the Inns student members are required to attend a minimum of 12 qualifying sessions there. Qualifying sessions, formerly known as dinners, combine collegiate and educational elements and will combine an dinner or reception with lectures, debates, mooting. Middle Temple Hall is also a venue for banqueting, weddings, receptions. In recent years, it has become a much-used film location—the cobbled streets, historic buildings, william Shakespeares Twelfth Night received its first recorded performance here, at the feast Candlemas in 1602. Middle Temple Library possesses Emery Molyneuxs terrestrial and celestial globes, which are of particular historical cartographical value, Middle Temple is also one of the few remaining liberties, an old name for a geographic division. It is an independent extra-parochial area, historically not governed by the City of London Corporation, the Middle Temples functions as a local council are set out in the Temples Order 1971. It geographically falls within the boundaries and liberties of the City, some of the Inns buildings lie just outside the liberty of the Middle Temple and the Citys boundary, and are actually situated in the City of Westminster. Quadrant House was acquired by the Middle Temple in 1999 and after five years of conversion is now a barristers chambers and this lies outside the liberty but is within the City of London. List of members of Middle Temple Outer Temple Pump Court Middle Temple website
7.
Jurisprudence
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Jurisprudence is the study and theory of law. It includes principles behind law that make the law, scholars of jurisprudence, also known as jurists or legal theorists, hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems, and of legal institutions. Modern jurisprudence began in the 18th century and was focused on the first principles of the law, civil law. Contemporary philosophy of law, which deals with general jurisprudence, addresses problems in two groups, Problems internal to law and legal systems. Problems of law as a social institution as law relates to the larger political and social situation in which it exists. Answers to these questions come from four schools of thought in general jurisprudence. The foundations of law are accessible through reason and it is from these laws of nature that human-created laws gain whatever force they have. Legal positivism, by contrast to natural law, holds that there is no connection between law and morality and that the force of law comes from some basic social facts. Legal positivists differ on what facts are. Critical legal studies are a younger theory of jurisprudence that has developed since the 1970s and it holds that the law is largely contradictory, and can be best analyzed as an expression of the policy goals of a dominant social group. A further relatively new field is known as jurisprudence, concerned with the impact of legal processes on wellbeing. The English word is based on the Latin maxim jurisprudentia, juris is the form of jus meaning law. The word is first attested in English in 1628, at a time when the word prudence had the meaning of knowledge of or skill in a matter, the word may have come via the French jurisprudence, which is attested earlier. Ancient Indian jurisprudence is available in various Dharmaśāstra texts starting from the Dharmasutra of Bhodhayana. Jurisprudence already had this meaning in Ancient Rome even if at its origins the discipline was a in the jus of mos maiorum, an iudex then would judge a remedy according to the facts of the case. The law was implemented with new evolutive Institutiones, while remaining in the traditional scheme. Praetors were replaced in the 3rd century BC by a body of prudentes. Admission to this body was conditional upon proof of competence or experience, under the Roman Empire, schools of law were created, and the activity constantly became more academic
8.
Court of Common Pleas (England)
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The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered common pleas, actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, authorised by Magna Carta to sit in a fixed location, the Common Pleas sat in Westminster Hall for its entire existence, joined by the Exchequer of Pleas and Court of Kings Bench. The courts jurisdiction was gradually undercut by the Kings Bench and Exchequer of Pleas with legal fictions, the Bill of Middlesex and Writ of Quominus respectively. It was staffed by one Chief Justice and a number of puisne justices, who were required to be Serjeants-at-Law. With an Order in Council issued on 16 December 1880, the Common Pleas Division of the High Court ceased to exist, marking the end of the Court of Common Pleas. Originally, the sole fixed court was the curia regis, one of the three administrative bodies along with the Exchequer and Chancery, from which the Court of Chancery formed. This curia was the court, composed of those advisers and courtiers who followed the king as he travelled around the country. This was not a court of law, instead a descendant of the witenagemot. In concert with the curia regis, eyre circuits staffed by itinerant judges dispensed justice throughout the country and these judges were also members of the curia, and would hear cases on the kings behalf in the lesser curia regis. Gradually, the split into two distinct branches, the coram rege and de banco. Much academic discussion occurs over the circumstances and times of their founding, the later theory was that Henry IIs decree created the Court of Common Pleas, not the Kings Bench, and that the Kings Bench instead split from the Common Pleas at some later time. In the 20th century, with access to historical documents. Rather than the Common Pleas being created out of the curia regis directly, it arose out of the Exchequer of Pleas. The Court of Common Pleas, along with the superior courts. The court sat in a space marked off by a bar with the court officials sitting at a large oak table covered in green cloth. During the 15th century, the law courts were challenged by the civil law and equity found in the Chancery. These courts and legal methods were much faster than the law courts, so lawyers. When the Kings Bench attempted to use the Bill of Middlesex to widen its jurisdiction, the troubles during this period are best illustrated by Slades Case
9.
Norfolk
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Norfolk /ˈnɔːrfək/ is a county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the west and north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea and, to the north-west, The Wash. With an area of 2,074 square miles and a population of 859,400, of the countys population, 40% live in four major built up areas, Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn and Thetford. The Broads is a network of rivers and lakes in the east of the county, the area is not a National Park although it is marketed as such. It has similar status to a park, and is protected by the Broads Authority. Norfolk was settled in times, with camps along the higher land in the west. A Brythonic tribe, the Iceni, inhabited the county from the 1st century BC to the end of the 1st century AD, the Iceni revolted against the Roman invasion in AD47, and again in 60 led by Boudica. The crushing of the second opened the county to the Romans. During the Roman era roads and ports were constructed throughout the county, situated on the east coast, Norfolk was vulnerable to invasions from Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and forts were built to defend against the Angles and Saxons. Norfolk, Suffolk and several adjacent areas became the kingdom of East Anglia, the influence of the Early English settlers can be seen in the many place names ending in -ton and -ham. Endings such as -by and -thorpe are also common, indicating Danish place names, in the 9th century the region came under attack. In the centuries before the Norman Conquest the wetlands of the east of the county began to be converted to farmland, and settlements grew in these areas. Migration into East Anglia must have high, by the time of the Domesday Book survey it was one of the most densely populated parts of the British Isles. During the high and late Middle Ages the county developed arable agriculture, the economy was in decline by the time of the Black Death, which dramatically reduced the population in 1349. During the English Civil War Norfolk was largely Parliamentarian, the economy and agriculture of the region declined somewhat. During the Industrial Revolution Norfolk developed little industry except in Norwich which was an addition to the railway network. In the 20th century the county developed a role in aviation, during the Second World War agriculture rapidly intensified, and it has remained very intensive since, with the establishment of large fields for growing cereals and oilseed rape. Norfolks low-lying land and easily eroded cliffs, many of which are chalk and clay, make it vulnerable to the sea, the low-lying section of coast between Kelling and Lowestoft Ness in Suffolk is currently managed by the Environment Agency to protect the Broads from sea flooding
10.
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
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Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians, who are present or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, the Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the issuing of Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, otherwise, the Privy Councils powers have now been largely replaced by the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The Judicial Committee consists of judges appointed as Privy Counsellors, predominantly Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom was preceded by the Privy Council of Scotland, the key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below, Witenagemot was an early equivalent to the Privy Council of England. During the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the English Crown was advised by a court or curia regis. The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration, later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice, nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. During Henry VIIIs reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation, the legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIIIs death. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became an administrative body. The Council consisted of forty members in 1553, but the sovereign relied on a smaller committee, by the end of the English Civil War, the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber, the House of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws, the forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons, the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs, the Council became known as the Protectors Privy Council, its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliaments approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy, the Protectors Council was abolished, Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. Under George I even more power transferred to this committee and it now began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the British Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the sovereign and it is closely related to the word private, and derives from the French word privé
11.
Coronet
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A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. By one definition, a coronet differs from a crown in that a coronet never has arches, by a slightly different definition, a crown is worn by an emperor, empress, king or queen, a coronet by a nobleman or lady. The word stems from the Old French coronete, a diminutive of coronne, itself from the Latin corona, other than a crown, a coronet shows the rank of the respective noble. Hence, in German and Scandinavian languages there is also the term Rangkrone, for equivalents, both physical and emblematic, in other languages and cultures, see under crown. The main use is now actually not on the head but as a symbol in heraldry. In the United Kingdom, a peer wears his or her coronet on one occasion only, for a royal coronation, when it is worn along with coronation robes, equally standardised as a luxurious uniform. In the peerages of the United Kingdom, the design of a coronet shows the rank of its owner, as in German, French, dukes were the first individuals authorised to wear coronets. Marquesses acquired coronets in the 15th century, earls in the 16th and viscounts, until the barons received coronets in 1661, the coronets of earls, marquesses and dukes were engraved while those of viscounts were plain. After 1661, however, viscomital coronets became engraved, while baronial coronets were plain, Coronets may not bear any precious or semi-precious stones. In Canadian heraldry, descendants of the United Empire Loyalists are entitled to use a Loyalist military coronet or Loyalist civil coronet in their arms, Members of the British Royal Family often have coronets on their coats of arms, and may wear actual coronets at coronations. They were made, according to regulations made by King Charles II in 1661 and they vary depending upon the princes relationship to the monarch. Occasionally, additional royal warrants vary the designs for individuals, the most recent royal warrant concerning coronets was the 19 November 1917 warrant of George V. Rather than a coronet, the heir apparent receives a crown with a single arch, there is evidence to support the wearing of coronets amongst Welsh royalty and nobility, particularly in the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Llywelyns coronet was for a while kept with the English crown jewels, some distinguished families held no higher title than count or even baron, but were proud of their ancient origin. As an example, the title of Marquis ranks in principle immediately after Duke, titles continued to be granted until the Second Empire fell in 1870, and legally survive among their descendants. As a result, the title of duc was actually, as well as nominally, at the top of the scale after the family and foreign princes. Prince, this was not a title in Old Regime France, dauphin, initially an open crown of fleurs-de-lis, starting with Henri IVs son, the crown is closed with dolphins instead of arches. Fils de France et Petit-Fils de France, open coronet of fleurs-de-lis, prince du Sang, first a coronet alternating fleurs-de-lis and acanthus leaves, e. g. on François de Montpensiers coinage in Dombes, c
12.
Joint-stock company
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A joint-stock company is a business entity in which different stocks can be bought and owned by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares and that allows for the unequal ownership of a business with some shareholders owning more of a company than others. Shareholders are able to transfer their shares to others without any effects to the existence of the company. In modern-day corporate law, the existence of a company is often synonymous with incorporation. Therefore, joint-stock companies are known as corporations or limited companies. Some jurisdictions still provide the possibility of registering joint-stock companies without limited liability, in the United Kingdom and other countries that have adopted its model of company law, they are known as unlimited companies. In the United States, they are simply as joint-stock companies. Ownership of stock refers to a number of privileges. The company is managed on behalf of the shareholders by a board of directors, the shareholders also vote to accept or reject an annual report and audited set of accounts. Individual shareholders can sometimes stand for directorships within the company if a vacancy occurs, the shareholders are usually liable for any of the company debts that extend beyond the companys ability to pay. Meanwhile, the limit of their liability extends only to the value of their shareholding. The concept of limited liability largely accounts for the success of this form of business organization, ordinary shares entitle the owner to a share in the companys net profit. It is calculated in the way, the net profit is divided by the total number of owned shares, producing a notional value per share. An individuals share of the profit is thus the dividend multiplied by the number of shares owned, finding the earliest joint-stock company is a matter of definition. The earliest records of joint stock company can be found in China during the Song Dynasty, the Swedish company Stora has documented a stock transfer for an eighth of the company as early as 1288. In more recent history, the earliest joint-stock company recognized in England was the Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands, muscovy Company, which had a monopoly on trade between Moscow and London, was chartered soon after in 1555. The Royal Charter effectively gave the newly created Honourable East India Company a 15-year monopoly on all trade in the East Indies. The Company transformed from a trading venture to one that ruled India and exploited its resources, as it acquired auxiliary governmental and military functions
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lindley, Nathaniel Lindley, Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 719.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
