From 1530 a royal act restricted all shipments of coal from Tyneside to Newcastle Quayside, giving a monopoly in the coal trade to a cartel of Newcastle burgesses known as the Hostmen. This monopoly, which lasted for a considerable time, helped Newcastle prosper and develop into a major town. The phrase taking coals to Newcastle was first recorded contextually in 1538. The phrase itself means a pointless pursuit. In the 18th century American Timothy Dexter, an entrepreneur, widely regarded as an eccentric, defied this idiom. He was persuaded to sail a shipment of coal to Newcastle by merchants plotting to ruin him; however his shipment arrived on the Tyne during a strike that had crippled local production; unexpectedly he made a considerable profit.
What did the merchants of Newcastle plot to do to Timothy Dexter?
ruin him ruin him to ruin him