Chapter 14 #2
“He was and is by far one of the most intelligent men that I know. The more he talked about what he wanted to build. The more I saw his vision, I told him that I had seventy thousand in the four percents and due to the entail on Longbourn, I did not want to invest in the estate. At least I did not until I had a son as I could not see myself improving land that would pass to my illiterate Cousin Collins.” Seeing Matlock’s recognition of the name, Bennet clarified for him, “The father not the son.” Bennet took a long sip from his glass of port and continued the telling.
“The original plan was to build the foremost import export business in the realm. Although I supplied seventy percent of the money, I only accepted fifty percent ownership. Gardiner wanted me to have seventy, I said I was happy with thirty, so we compromised on an equal share. Then a year after I had invested, a geologist retained by Edward to scout for opportunities, was visiting some family in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the former colonies in the Americas. He sent a letter to Edward telling him that he discovered a vein of gold while walking on some open land. He did not have the funds to purchase the land, so he asked Edward to fund the project.”
“The company purchased a very large swath of land for next to nothing and the geologist, Mr Rowdy Thatcher who is of no relation to our butler, was given ten percent of all profits that were produced as a finder’s fee and managed the operations of the gold mine that was developed on our land.
It was just after Jane was born in ‘88 that the mine started to produce, and produce well. We purchased all the available land around the original parcel as soon as Rowdy confirmed his find. It was not long before we were raking in far more money than even Gardiner’s most optimistic forecast had predicted.
Using some of the vast wealth that we now had, we purchased an abandoned diamond mine in India and a lot of the surrounding land.
“By now, Rowdy had a competent overseer and manager in charge of the operations in Virginia, so he made his way to India. He discovered that had the previous owners dug past some stubborn rock formations, there was a wealth of gems to be found. On the adjacent land, he found veins of rubies and emeralds and other precious stones.”
“By the time Mary was born in ‘92 we were raking in profits hand over fist, especially after we added some mines on the Gold Coast of Africa. When we looked at the funds that we were building that had already reached into the millions, Gardiner suggested, and I agreed, that we start to buy businesses that had good bones but their owners had taken them as far as they could or did not have the funds to develop their companies further. We decided that all of the businesses that we acquired would be kept separate from each other and that keeping the secret about the ownership by Gardiner and Associates was a condition of purchase that had heavy penalties if breeched.”
“My God Bennet, I had no idea.” Jersey sat back, stupefied by what he had heard so far. “Come on, old friend, tell us the rest.”
Bennet nodded and proceeded with his tale, “The first major acquisitions following the influx of capital were shipbuilding yards. We purchased yards in Liverpool, Bideford, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Newhaven, Folkstone, and South Hampton to name the main locations. Unless the old managers were incompetent, we left them in place. And rather than compete for the same contracts, each of the yards focused on needs of different sectors of the shipping industry. When we earned large contracts and there was a time constraint for delivery, we were able to meet the deadline as we can spread the work among multiple yards if needed.”
“Just after the yards, we discovered that the Denningtons were selling their shipping line as old Mr Dennington had sons who had no interest in the business.
Gardiner and I went to meet with them at their headquarters in Liverpool in ‘94 and we purchased the shipping line while retaining all of the current management. Within five years we had quadrupled the size of the line as we could add ships at will. Today, it is by far the biggest shipping line in the realm. Edward and I have recently taken delivery of a personal vessel called ‘The Elizabeth,’ and no, she does not know she has a ship named after her. In the near future we will be bringing her to London and then we will organise a little sailing trip. Eventually there will be ships named after all of the Bennet and Gardiner offspring.”
“For some years now, we have received almost all contracts to build ships for His Majesty’s navy, so we expanded the number of ship yards and soon after started to build exclusively for the East India Company.
In return for a significant reduction on price, we were given a ten percent stake in the company and a year or so later, when the company was worth less than six million, we purchased a further five and twenty percent stake.
After these major acquisitions, we turned to stores and factories in England.
We have a large facility outside of London where we employ inventors, scientists, and the like.
We own patents on some of the new innovations that the Luddites object to so vociferously. ”
“White’s, Boodle’s, Gunter’s, and Hatchard’s were more for fun than money.
Imagine the members of the Ton knowing that their exclusive clubs are owned by a tradesman.
Hatchard’s was a passion for me as I love books.
As your wives now know, we own Madame Chambourg’s.
She receives thirty percent, a higher percentage of profit than most as she is not just the manager, but the creative force behind the business.
Very few, if any, of the businesses we invest in know who the others are as we want to foster competition and the drive to succeed.
All they know is that their cartage, shipping, and raw material costs are much lower than most other businesses pay, they just do not know why. ”
“My lord, Bennet. You and Gardiner have built wealth in five and twenty years that others cannot attain in generations,” Bedford stated the obvious.
“It was done with ‘King Midas,’ as my brother is called by some, making great investments and good business decisions and not a little luck. The mines were the right place at the right time,” Bennet said philosophically.
“Well, I for one am extremely happy with my investments in Gardiner and Associates. The returns make the four percents look like nothing,” Matlock stated after he had digested all that was disclosed.
Both Bedford and Jersey, who also had major investments, nodded their agreement with the last statement.
The men all refreshed their drinks. The chess games started again with Bedford sitting across the board from Bennet.
He was the only one in the room with no title, but he had more wealth than all three men combined and none of them begrudged him of it.
‘I am going to talk to Cousin Prinny. He should hand out some titles to Bennet and Gardiner. They are loyal to the crown, but that will cement the relationship to the royals further,’ Lord Haywood Rhys-Davies, the Duke of Bedford, thought as he was being soundly trounced at chess by his friend Lord Jersey.
As the three peers left, Bedford called them over and explained what his thoughts were about asking the Prince Regent to bestow titles on Bennet and Gardiner.
The two men agreed wholeheartedly. The next day, they took Bedford’s carriage and made their way to Buckingham House.
After a half hour wait, they were shown into a chamber where her majesty Queen Charlotte sat with her son, George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales, the Prince Regent who they referred to as Prinny.
The Duke, with support from Lords Jersey and Matlock, informed the royals about the extent of the owners of Gardiner and Associates wealth and that unbeknownst to them, almost all of their navy’s ships were manufactured in shipyards owned by the partners.
It did not take much for the Prince of Wales and Queen Charlotte to agree.
It was decided that Mr Bennet would be made a peer of the realm as he was a gentleman and would have the title of Earl of Longbourn conferred on him.
As he had no son, the secondary title of Viscount Meryton was created and would be conferred on the first-born Bennet male grandchild if no miracle happened that blessed the Bennets with an heir.
No estate was gifted as the Bennets owned most of Hertfordshire already.
A Baronet would be conferred on Edward Gardiner that would be inherited by the oldest male son, starting with his son James.
The patents would be ready by Monday, and the announcement would be in the papers the day after.
The three peers carried a message from the royals to the Bennets and Gardiners to invite them for a royal audience to receive the patents on Monday at two o’clock in the afternoon.
Everyone knew that it was no invitation, but a summons.
The prince had seen the logic that anyone who had that much wealth should be a peer, or titled at the very least. The three returned to where the other two carriages had been left and then each went to go collect his wife to meet back at Bennet House.
A note was sent to Gardiner House to request their company at Bennet House as soon as they were able.
When Thatcher showed the Duke, Duchess, Earls, and Countesses into the Bennet family’s sitting room, they were glad to see that all of the Bennets were present, minus the one at school. Darcy and the Colonel were visiting and it was not many minutes later that the Gardiners were announced.