Presents the discovery that Hobbes was a shareholder in both the Virginia Company and its sister organization, the Somer Islands Company (which dealt with the colonization of the Bermudas). He was granted a share in the former by his employer, William Cavendish (future second Earl of Devonshire) in 1622, and attended its meetings regularly over the following two years. The essay explores the internal politics of the Virginia Company during this period and discusses the ways in which Hobbes may have been influenced by this experience.
Keywords: Bermudas, colonization, Hobbes, Sir Edwin Sandys, Virginia Company