The London Company (also called the Charter of the Virginia Company of London) was an English joint stock company established by royal charter by King James I with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
The territory granted to the London Company included the coast of North America from the 34th parallel (Cape Fear) north to the 41st parallel (in Long Island Sound), but being part of the Virginia Company and Colony, the London Company owned a large portion of Atlantic and Inland Canada. The company was permitted by its charter to establish a 100-square-mile (260 km2) settlement within this area. The portion of the company's territory north of the 38th parallel was shared with the Plymouth Company, with the stipulation that neither company found a colony within 100 miles (161 km) of each other.
The London Company made landfall on April 26, 1607 at the southern edge of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, which they named Cape Henry, in present day Virginia Beach. Deciding to move the encampment, on May 24, 1607 they established the Jamestown Settlement on the James River about 40 miles (64 km) upstream from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Later in 1607, the Plymouth Company established its Popham Colony in present day Maine, but it was abandoned after about a year. By 1609, the Plymouth Company had dissolved. As a result, the charter for the London Company was adjusted with a new grant that extended from "sea to sea" of the previously-shared area between the 34th and 40th parallel. It was amended in 1612 to include the new territory of the Somers Isles (or Bermuda).
The London Company struggled financially for a number of years, with results improving after sweeter strains of tobacco than the native variety were cultivated and successfully exported from Virginia as a cash crop beginning in 1612. In 1624, the company lost its charter, and Virginia became a royal colony (although its spin-off, the Somers Isles Company existed until 1684).
Read more about London Company: History, Native American Relationships
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