More on finding information on the origin of corporations in the most unlikely places.
In addition to a frustrating overuse of the idiom "in order," Kate Hopkins' "99 Drams of Whiskey" provides an interesting history of the legal organization of the whiskey industry in England as well as a good excuse to read a book and drink bourbon.
On page 36, the author writes:
"In 1608, the first whiskey patent in Ireland was granted by the lord deputy, Sir Arthur Chichester, to a Charles Waterhouse in Munster. Later that same year, Sir Thomas Phillipps, in likely need of some revenue to keep his occupying forces located in Ulster paid and fed, bought his own license, a patent to distill in County Antrim. It's this license that Bushmills claims as their own heritage, and it is why they plaster their bottles with the year 1608."
From her description, the "patent" granted to Sir Chichester appears to have been some sort of hybrid between what now passes as a business license similar to what one may need to open a restaurant or sell spices from some storefront along 9th Street and an incorporation certificate.
Interesting in that English law in 1608 did not distinguish between each.