Thomas Foulis

Thomas Foulis (fl. 1580–1628) Scottish goldsmith and financier.

Thomas Foulis was an Edinburgh goldsmith and financier, and was involved in the mint and coinage, gold and lead mining, and from May 1591 the receipt of money given to James VI of England by Elizabeth I of England, known as the English annuity or subsidy.

He was a son of Henry Foulis of Colinton and Margaret Haldane. As a financier to the mint and crown his business partner was Robert Joussie, or Jowsie (d. 1610), an Edinburgh cloth merchant who later became Groom of the Chamber.

Foulis was made a master of the Edinburgh Incorporation of Goldsmiths and a burgess on 18 June 1581 after submitting an essay of silverwork. His master had been Michael Gilbert. A son David followed him into the craft. In February 1581/2 he made new dies for minting coins, following the designs of Lord Seton's painter. Working for the royal mint brought Foulis privileges and exemptions from taxes which brought resentment in Edinburgh, and the town's authorities refused to 'book' one of his apprentices in February 1591.

In 1590 he made a silver-gilt and engraved basin and ewer for Queen Elizabeth's christening gift to Elizabeth Stewart, the daughter of Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, and he advanced the English ambassador Robert Bowes £20 sterling to reward the servants and musicians at the baptism.

James VI sent Foulis and Robert Joussie to London in July 1589 to buy clothes and ornaments in preparation for his marriage to Anne of Denmark. James gave him a pledge of two cut rubies and three cabochon rubies set in gold "chattons" or buttons from the crown jewels for these purchases and new work. Foulis supplied jewels to James VI and Anne, while Joussie supplied clothes and fabrics, paid for in part by a subsidy or annuity provided by Queen Elizabeth. In August 1594 Foulis bought eight ruffs in London for queen. Foulis also had a stock of fabric at his death.

In March 1592 Foulis was involved in a project to refine old silver Scottish coins with Sir William Bowes in London. Foulis also operated a copper mine near Edinburgh for the king and was permitted to use wood from the forest of Torwood to make charcoal for refining. In April 1594 he received a grant to prospect and mine for gold, silver, lead, tin and other metals, in Lanarkshire. He became known as Thomas Foulis of Leadhills. In 1613 Foulis had the contract for a silvermine at Hilderston near Linlithgow.

In September 1594 the king owed Foulis £14,598 Scots and gave him two gold cups which he could have coined into gold £5 pieces if he was not repaid. These cups had presented by the Dutch ambassador Walraven III van Brederode at the baptism of Prince Henry. At the same time, another creditor, John Arnott, was given a gold cup with the option to have it coined. James Hudson wrote in May 1598 that Foulis was involved in pawning a gold lion set with a ruby worth £400 in London, which he suggested belonged to James VI.

Foulis became involved in the administration of the Scottish exchequer by the group knowns as the Octavians. They gave him a role on 29 December 1597 overseeing royal expenditure. However, Foulis was bankrupted by the scheme on 17 January 1598. Roger Aston wrote that Foulis was treasurer in all but name and after twenty days "fell by his wits" and lay "in great extremity". David Calderwood called his distress a frenzy, "phrenesie". The English correspondent George Nicolson provided an alternative explanation for Foulis' distress, that James had taken back a jewel pawned to Foulis, the Great 'H' of Scotland. James had given the jewel to Anne of Denmark who, Nicolson says, had offered it to her friend Elizabeth Douglas, Lady Errol as recompense for the demolition of Slains Castle.

Foulis recovered and on 2 August 1598 Foulis and Joussie obtained a contract (a tack) to operate the mint for six years in recompense of their losses. However, a report of Scottish royal finances sent to England in February 1600 noted that Foulis and Joussie and their partners were 'wrecked and undone'.

He died in Edinburgh in 1628.

Foulis married firstly Jean Francis, who died in 1623, then Rachel Porteous. Jean had sons, Thomas and David Foulis of Glendorch, and three daughters, Margaret, Jean, and another who married James McMath. After his death a cousin, Anne Foulis, who was married to James Hope of Hopetoun, eventually inherited the mining wealth.