ABSTRACT
This chapter considers several aspects of investment in Britain's overseas empire by examining patterns of East India stockholding at time, roughly from 1750 to 1820, when that empire was expanding fast and undergoing profound changes in terms of its composition, form, and geographical distribution. In seeking to bring historians of the companies in Europe closer in line with those who were breaking free from 'national' shackles in the East, he identified several lines of inquiry worthy of pursuit, including the need to know more about foreign investment in the various East India Companies. Rather, investors operated in a supranational world and, as far as the British East India Company was concerned, this meant that almost 40 per cent of its joint stock was held in foreign or overseas accounts during the 1760s. Thus, as far as metropolitan investment was concerned, interconnections between Britain and Europe had been greatly reduced, and the company had almost ceased to exhibit any supranational characteristics.
