Charter and Supplemental Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company

This document records the original royal charter granted in 1670 that founded the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson’s Bay. Issued by King Charles II, it lists the prominent investors—Prince Rupert, the Duke of Albemarle and a host of English knights and merchants—who pooled their resources to explore the North‑west American coast, seek a passage to the South Sea, and develop a fur‑trading enterprise. The charter formally incorporates the venture as a perpetual corporation, granting it exclusive rights to trade in the waters, bays, rivers and lands surrounding Hudson’s Strait that were not already claimed by other Christian powers.

Beyond its legal language, the charter offers a vivid snapshot of 17th‑century ambitions, showing how royal favor, private capital, and imperial expansion intertwined. Listeners will hear the formal yet earnest tone of the monarch’s grant, the detailed enumeration of privileges, and the early vision of a commercial empire that would shape the economic history of North America for centuries to come.