Sir Martin Noell was an eminent London merchant, engaged in an extensive colonial trade that included the slave trade. He thrived under the Commonwealth as a tax farmer, taking up farms
of the excise or customs and advancing other sums, secure in the knowledge that he would get his money back. At the Restoration of Charles II

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

 (1660) Noell was one of the four eminent London merchants— the others being Thomas Povey

Thomas Povey

Thomas Povey FRS, was a London merchant-politician who was active in colonial affairs from the 1650s, but neutral enough in his politics to be named a member from 1660 of Charles II's Council for Foreign Plantations, making him a powerful figure in the not-yet professionalized First English...

, Sir Nicholas Crispe and Sir Andrew Riccard

Andrew Riccard

Sir Andrew Riccard was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1654.Riccard was the son of Walter Riccard of Portesham. He became an Alderman of the City of London and was Sheriff of London in 1651...

— who took their seats among the courtiers on the Council for Plantations, whose restrictions on colonial trade in the interests of a mercantilist policy

Mercantilism

Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...

were resisted from the first by Virginia planters. He was knighted in 1662.