Sir Lewes Roberts

Born into a merchant family, Roberts was predetermined for a mercantile career although he was personally more inclined to academic education.

As an apprentice of Thomas Harvey, a London overseas merchant and draper, he visited various places such as Newfoundland, Malaga, Algiers and Tunis, and lived in France, Italy, the Ionian Islands, Istanbul and Asia Minor during his apprenticeship. Following his master’s death, Lewes established himself as an independent trader. He joined the Merchant Adventurers and the Drapers’ Company, and became a member of the Levantine Company and director of the English East India Company (1639-1640). He was also an author of “The Merchants Mappe of Commerce” (1638), his major work, and “The Treasure of Traffike” or “A Discourse of Forraigne Trade” in which he presented the benefits of the export trade and the way in which imports supported the local industry.