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dispensation from particular laws as to export and import, as well as other laws
which might hinder their trade. 8 In return, the company conferred assistance to the
state‟s foreign policies in matters relating to disputes in mercantile activities. 9 The
granting of monopolistic rights to the company were also hoped to be able to feed the
Crown‟s coffers, to encourage the growth of home industries, to protect the small
manufacturers and to guarantee the availability of quality goods at a reasonable
price. 10 The Companies Act, enacted in 1844, later conferred the corporation status
on companies which had complied with necessary statutory procedures.
The essential purpose of a corporation during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries was that it must have a public function, either for the benefit of the general
public or for the advancement of religion, of learning or of commerce. 11 A
corporation was also used as a tool to advancing the interests of the state by
representing the government abroad. 12 These public functions of a corporation were
more important than those of private gain. Only at a later date were associations
formed strictly for commercial purposes of making profits for their members. 13
To facilitate increasing trade activities, large amounts of capital were needed by
businesses, and, investments from the public were seen as one of the options to carry
on trading. This contributed to the development of joint stock companies which were
formed in order to persuade members of the public to invest. In England, the need to
incorporate companies was caused by the need to organise foreign trade and to found
8 Holdsworth above n2 at 201.
9 Colin Arthur Cooke Corporation Trust and Company An Essay in Legal History (Manchester
University Press, 1950) at 51.
10 Ibid, at 53.
11 Ibid, at 51.
12 Ibid, at 52.
13 Holdsworth, above n2 at 206.
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