Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume I, Part 2

Author: Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, 1853-1935, ed. cn
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 436

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Queen Elizabeth having come to an open breach with the King of Spain, Drake was sent in 1585 with a fleet of twenty-six sail to attack the Spanish settlements in the West Indies. He took St. Jago in Cuba, St. Do- mingo, Carthegena and St. Augustine, and carried away booty to the amount of £60,000 sterling. Sailing northward he visited Lane's colony at Roanoke, and finding them disheart-

ened took them all on board and carried them back to Portsmouth, England, which he reached July 28, 1586.

Drake was not long left idle. In 1581 he was sent with a strong fleet against the Span- ish coast and created much havoc in sinking and burning 100 Spanish vessels, and destroy- ing four castles on the shore; and off the Azores captured a Portugese East-Indiaman loaded with wealth estimated at £10,000. This was what Drake called "singing the King's beard." He liberally employed some of the wealth he had acquired in bringing water from a distant spring to the town of Plymouth. Drake was active in preparing England against the attack of the Spanish Armada. It was his urgent advice to the Queen not to wait the attack, but to carry the war to the Spanish coast and thereby break up the proposed move- ment. In the battle with the Armada he was vice-admiral under Lord Charles Howard, and his squadron had the principal share in the dis- comfiture of the Spanish fleet as it fled before the storms and foe.

The next year Drake was sent with a body of land forces under Sir John Norris for the purpose of restoring Don Antonio to the throne of Portugal, but the expedition was attended with a large loss of life and was not successful in its primary objects, though Drake had the good fortune to capture a large fleet laden with naval stores, thus putting an end to all proposals of an invasion from Spain. For the next few years Drake was actively but peacefully employed on shore, and in 1593 sat in parliament for Plymouth. In 1594 he was admiral of a fleet to make another attack on the West Indies, and Sir John Hawkins was vice-admiral. The expedition seems to have been unfortunate from the beginning.

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

The enemy were forewarned, and everywhere they met with determined opposition. Various towns, including Nombre de Dios, were burned and sacked, but they obtained no booty. Haw- kins died when off Porto Rico, and Drake fell sick of dysentery. His disease was aggra- vated by his disappointment and exertions, and it finally took a bad turn. On the return he also died off Porto Rico, the date being Janu- ary 28, 1595-96. His body, encased in a leaden coffin, was committed to the deep next day. He was twice married; first to Mary Newman, and secondly to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George Sydenham, who survived him and afterwards married Sir William Courte- nay, of Powderham, in Devonshire. He left no children nor did any of his eleven brothers, except one Captain Thomas Drake, who left a daughter Elizabeth, wife of John Bamfield, Esq .; and a son Francis, who was created baronet August 2, 1622.

Hakluyt, Rev. Richard, a celebrated naval historian, born about 1555, brought up at Westminster School, and graduated A. B. at Christ Church College, Oxford, February 19, 1573; M. A. June 27, 1577. His interest in navigation was early excited by the example and teaching of his cousin Richard Hakluyt, Sr., and he devoted himself to the study of geography and collecting and publishing the accounts of travels and discoveries. In 1582 appeared his "Divers Voyages;" in 1584 he wrote his "Discourse on Western Planting" for Raleigh, in which he pictured the advan- tage of an English settlement in America; in 1586 he cansed the journals of Ribault and others to be published ; in 1587 he published an improved edition of Peter Martyr's work, "De Orbe Novo," afterwards translated in English and published under the title of "The Historie

of the West Indies ;" in 1588 he applied him- self to his greatest work, "Principal Naviga- tions," which he published in 1589; and shortly after he issued a second edition. In 1601 he published a translation of Antonio Galvano's "History of Discoveries," and in 1609 a translation of Ferdinand De Soto's "Description of Florida." During this time he filled many offices. He was appointed at a very early age to read public lectures at Ox- ford upon cosmography; in 1582-83 he was chaplain of the English embassy at Paris, where he remained five years; during his absence he was made a prebendary of Bristol ; in 1605 he was appointed rector of Wethering- set in Suffolk. He took great interest in the colonization of Virginia, and was one of the four incorporators mentioned by name in the patent granted to the Virginia Company of London in 1606. On the recommendation of Dr. Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canter- bury, the post of minister at Jamestown was offered to him, but he declined in favor of Robert Hunt. Hacklnyt died at Eton in Hert- fordshire in November, 1606, and was buried among the illustrious dead in Westminster Abbey. No man did more for the English occupation of America, since by his numerous works he fired the imagination of the nation and inspired the navigators with the zeal of crusaders to whom no sea or enterprise, how- ever hazardous, had any terrors.

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, son of Otho Gil- bert and his wife Katherine Champernoun, was born in Devonshire, at his father's house called Greenway, upon Dart river, about 1639; educated at Eton and Oxford ; devoted himself to the study of navigation and the art of war ; was wounded at Havre in fighting against the French, and afterwards saw much military

THE FOUNDERS

experience in Ireland, where after defeating the celebrated McCarthy More he was made governor of Munster in October, 1569; knighted at Drogheda by the lord lieutenant of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney, January 1, 1570, and the same year returned to England and married Joan, only daughter and heiress of John Aucher, of Otterden, by his wife Ann, daughter of Sir William Kellaway; M. P. from Plymouth in 1571; commanded the squadron sent to reinforce Flushing in the autumn of 1572; returned to England in the fall of 1573, and was living at Limehouse in 1575-78. He became greatly interested in making discoveries, and in 1566 petitioned the Queen for the privilege of making northeast discoveries, and in 1567 of making northwest discoveries. He wrote a "Discourse of a Dis- covery for a new passage to Cataia," and con- ceived the design of planting an English set- tlement in the New World to countervail the power of Spain. Accordingly, he obtained a patent from Queen Elizabeth for this purpose, dated June 11, 1578; sailed in the fall of that year with seven ships and 387 men, but was soon forced to return; in 1579 he sent Simon Ferdinando and in 1580 John Walker to make preliminary explorations, and on June II, 1583, sailed himself a second time with five ships bearing 260 men ; August 3, 1583, he reached Newfoundland, of which he took possession in the name of Queen Elizabeth. From here he sailed southward, but the desertion and loss of several of his vessels forced him to abandon the expedition and to attempt to return home with the two that remained. On the way a terrible storm on September 10, 1583, swal- lowed up one of them bearing Gilbert himself. Throughout the whole expedition he showed an invincible spirit, and his last words will be kept in precious remembrance: "We are as

near Heaven by sea as by land." He is justly considered the founder of American coloniza- tion. He was the father of a number of chil- dren, among whom were John, Bartholomew and Raleigh Gilbert, all of whom were inter- ested in the settlement of America.

Gilbert, Adrian, of Sandridge, son of Otho Gilbert, of Compton, and brother of Sir Hum- phrey Gilbert, made a voyage to the northwest prior to 1583; interested in the voyages of his brother Sir Humphrey, in the voyages of John Davis 1586-87, and in the voyage of Caven- dish, 1591 ; was constable of Sherborne Cas- tle, 1596-1603; member of parliament for Bridgeport. 1597-98.

Gilbert, Sir John, of Greenway, eldest son of Otho Gilbert and Katherine Champernoun, his wife, and brother of Sir Humphrey Gil- bert; knighted by Queen Elizabeth at West- minster, 1571; vice-admiral of Devon, 1585; mayor of Plymouth, 1589; married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Chudleigh, and was buried in St. Peter's Cathedral, Exeter, where an elegant monument remains to his memory. Interested in the expeditions of his brother Sir Humphrey.

Gilbert, Sir John, eldest son of Sir Hum- phrey Gilbert, went with Raleigh to Guiana in 1595 ; showed gallantry at the battle of Cadiz in 1596 and was knighted by Essex; governor of the fort at Plymouth, 1597; member of the council for Virginia, 1607 ; was a brave officer ; married a daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, of Sefton, but died without issue, July 5, 1608, of smallpox, and was buried at Marldon Church. His brother Raleigh Gilbert was his heir.

Ferdinando, Simon, a Portugese pilot, sailed with Drake on his celebrated voyage to the

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

Cavendish, Sir Thomas, an adventurous seaman, the second Englishman to circumnavi- gate the globe, was born at Grimston Hall, Trimley, St. Martin Parish, Suffolk county, England, 1564; he equipped a ship at his own expense and sailed with Sir Richard Gren- ville on the voyage to Roanoke Island in 1585 ; afterwards mortgaged his estates and fitted out a fleet to prey on Spanish commerce, and em- barking from Plymouth, July 21, 1586, crossed the Atlantic, ran down the coast of South America, cleared the straits of Magellan and heading northward ravaged the seaboard of Chili, Peru and New Spain. He captured a galleon laden with valuable merchandise and 122,000 Spanish dollars. He went as far as Cape Lucas, on the coast of California, and then sailed for England by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, reaching Plymouth, Sep- tember 9, 1588, after an absence of two years, one month and nineteen days. On his return home Queen Elizabeth knighted him. His share of the spoils was "rich enough to pur- chase a fair earldom." In three years he plan- ned another voyage of the same scope, but his good genius deserted him. His plans were rendered abortive by tempestuous weather, sickness, hunger and desertion, and being com- pelled to turn homeward died at sea in the summer of 1592, heartbroken from want, anguish and fatigue.

Lane, Captain Ralph, second son of Sir Ralph Lane, of Orlinbury, and his wife Maud, daughter of William Lord Parr, uncle of Queen Katherine Parr, was born in North- amptonshire, about 1630; entered the Queen's service in 1563; distinguished himself in the rebellion of 1569, and was made governor of Kerry and Clan. Morris; he is described by Stow as "a great projector in these times,"

and proposed to the crown many schemes of all kinds ; was selected by Raleigh as governor of the colony to be sent to Roanoke Island in 1585 ; finding that there were no gold mines in North Carolina he returned home with the settlers in 1586; afterwards was a member of the commission to provide for the defence of England against the Spanish Armada; and in 1589 was a colonel in the expedition of Drake and Norris to Portugal ; he was made muster- master-general in Ireland, where he was dan- gerously wounded; was knighted by Lord Fitzwilliam, deputy lord lieutenant of Ireland. in 1593, and died in 1604 or 1605.

Hariot, Thomas, an eminent English math- ematician, born at Oxford, in 1560, studied at St. Mary's Hall, Oxford University, where he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts, February 12, 1580. Soon after he was entertained by Sir Walter Raleigh as his instructor in mathe- matics, and granted by him an annual pension. He was sent with Ralph Lane and his colony to Roanoke in 1585, and upon his return he published the results of his labors in "A Brief and True Report of the newfoundland of Vir- ginia, etc., London, 1588." He was the con- stant companion of Sir Walter Raleigh when he was confined in the Tower of London. He made a sun dial for the Earl of Northumber- land, which is still to be seen in the south face of St. Martin's tower. In 1607 he drew up observations on the comet known as "Hal- ley's Comet." He was the first to detect the spots on the sun, and is said to have observed the satellites of Jupiter a few days after Gali- leo first discovered them. He arrived at a complete theory of the genesis of equations in algebra, which Cardan and Vieta had but par- tially conceived. He preserved a keen inter- est in the colonization of Virginia till his death, at London, July 2, 1621.

THE FOUNDERS

White, Captain John, was one of the set- tlers who went with Captain Ralph Lane and his colonists to Roanoke in 1586. He was an artist, and made maps of the country and drawings of the Indian life. Many of his paintings are now in the Sloane collection and in the Grenville Library in the British Mu- seum. He was one of those to whom Raleigh assigned his patent in January, 1587, and went in charge of a second colony to Roanoke in May that year. In November he went to Eng- land for supplies, but his return to Roanoke was delayed on account of the invasion of England by the Spanish Armada. At length after three years he returned to Roanoke, but found no trace of the colony which he had left behind. Some of his maps and drawings were engraved in 1590 by De Bry in Hariot's report of the New found land of Virginia. He was living in 1594, when he wrote a letter to Raleigh. One of the lost colonists was his own daughter, wife of Annanias Dare, to whom was born a daughter, Virginia, August 18, 1578, the first child of English parents to be born in America.

Mace, Samuel, a mariner in the employ- ment of Sir Walter Raleigh, was sent by him three times to Virginia to search for the "Lost Colony of Roanoke ;" the third voyage was in 1602; he departed from Waymouth in March, and reaching the American coast forty leagues south of Cape Hatteras, spent a month search- ing the coast and trading with the Indians ; he returned with a cargo of sassafras and roots of different kinds, but brought no news of the "Lost Colony."

James I. of England and VI. of Scotland, only child of Mary Queen of Scots, daughter of James V., by her cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was born in the Castle of Edinburgh,

June 19, 1566. He married Anne of Denmark, November 24, 1589, and was proclaimed King of England on the death of Queen Elizabeth, March 24, 1603. His reign lasted till March 27, 1625, when he died. In estimating his career, while we must condemn his subservi- ency to favorites like Somerset and Bucking- ham, and his exhorbitant ideas of his preroga- tive, we must praise his actions in other re- spects. He loved peace, and was fond of books and literary men. He had patriotic views on extending the trade and power of the nation by favoring merchants, discoveries and colonization. He enlarged the privileges of the East India, the Muscovy, the Turkey and the Merchant Adventurers Companies, and granted three charters to the Virginia Com- pany, successively increasing its powers. While he has been condemned for having the com- pany dissolved, it cannot be said that he acted without some good reasons. The company had fallen into factions, and the terrible mortality in Virginia gave the appearance of careless administration. Of course Sandys and South- ampton were not responsible for this, but sub- sequent events justified King James' action. As a matter of fact the colony had outgrown the care of a distant corporation. Jamestown, James river and James City county in Virginia still remind us of his name and reign.

Cecil, Sir Robert, Earl of Salisbury, born June 1, 1560, son of William Cecil, Lord Bur- leigh, whom he succeeded as secretary of state on his death in 1598. In that office he was in fact prime minister during the next five years of his life. He was sole secretary of state to James I. from 1603 to his death in 1612. He was one of the earliest and con- stant friends of the Virginia enterprise, and subscribed £333 6s. 8d. to its stock.

VIR-2

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

Cavendish, Sir Thomas, an adventurous and proposed to the crown many schemes of seaman, the second Englishman to circumnavi- all kinds ; was selected by Raleigh as governor of the colony to be sent to Roanoke Island in 1585; finding that there were no gold mines in North Carolina he returned home with the settlers in 1586; afterwards was a member of the commission to provide for the defence of England against the Spanish Armada; and in 1589 was a colonel in the expedition of Drake and Norris to Portugal ; he was made muster- master-general in Ireland, where he was dan- gerously wounded; was knighted by Lord Fitzwilliam, deputy lord lieutenant of Ireland. in 1593, and died in 1604 or 1605. gate the globe, was born at Grimston Hall, Trimley, St. Martin Parish, Suffolk county, England, 1564; he equipped a ship at his own expense and sailed with Sir Richard Gren- ville on the voyage to Roanoke Island in 1585 ; afterwards mortgaged his estates and fitted out a fleet to prey on Spanish commerce, and em- barking from Plymouth, July 21, 1586, crossed the Atlantic, ran down the coast of South America, cleared the straits of Magellan and heading northward ravaged the seaboard of Chili, Peru and New Spain. He captured a galleon laden with valuable merchandise and 122,000 Spanish dollars. He went as far as Cape Lucas, on the coast of California, and then sailed for England by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, reaching Plymouth, Sep- tember 9, 1588, after an absence of two years, one month and nineteen days. On his return home Queen Elizabeth knighted him. His share of the spoils was "rich enough to pur- chase a fair earldom." In three years he plan- ned another voyage of the same scope, but his good genius deserted him. His plans were rendered abortive by tempestuous weather, sickness, hunger and desertion, and being com- pelled to turn homeward died at sea in the summer of 1592, heartbroken from want, anguish and fatigue.

THE FOUNDERS

Mace, Samuel, a mariner in the employ- ment of Sir Walter Raleigh, was sent by him three times to Virginia to search for the "Lost Colony of Roanoke;" the third voyage was in 1602 ; he departed from Waymouth in March, and reaching the American coast forty leagues south of Cape Hatteras, spent a month search- ing the coast and trading with the Indians ; he returned with a cargo of sassafras and roots of different kinds, but brought no news of the "Lost Colony."

James I. of England and VI. of Scotland, only child of Mary Queen of Scots, daughter of James V., by her cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was born in the Castle of Edinburgh, VIR-2

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

Gosnold, Bartholomew, (q. v.).

Gilbert, Bartholomew, son of Sir Hum- phrey Gilbert, sailed with Bartholomew Gos- nold in the ship Concord, sent out by the Earl of Southampton to the New England coast, March 26, 1602; May 10, 1603, in a small bark of fifty tons, he sailed to Chesapeake Bay; when landing on the eastern shore he was attacked by Indians and killed in July of that year. The ship returned to England about the end of September.

Pring, Martin, sea captain, son of John Pring of Awliscomb, Devonshire, was in 1603 sent out by Richard Hakluyt and others of Bristol under license from Sir Walter Raleigh with two ships the Speedwell and Discovery to perform a voyage to the coast of New Eng- land. They arrived at Bristol on October 2, where they reported the land they had visited "full of God's blessings." He then went on a voyage to Guiana, and, afterwards in Octo- ber, 1606, went out to New England in an expedition fitted out by Sir John Popham, and "brought back with him," wrote Sir Ferdinand Gorges, "the most exact discovery of that land that ever came to my hand since." Pring afterwards saw much service in the employ- ment of the East India Company's ships. On his passage home in 1621, in the Royal James, the officers and men made a subscription towards building a free school in Virginia, amounting to £70 8s 6d., of which Pring con- tributed £6 13s. 4d. On July 3 he was made a freeman of the Virginia Company of London and was granted two shares of land in Vir- ginia. The East India Company, however, censured him for engaging in private trade, and for being too complacent to the Dutch. He died in 1626, and was buried at St. Ste- phen's Church, Bristol, where there is a mon-

ument to his memory. His daughter Alice married Andrews, son of William Burwell, a commissioner of the navy.

Weymouth, George, voyager, was employ- ed by the East India Company in 1601, to make a voyage for the discovery of a northwest pas- sage to India. He penetrated some distance into Hudson Strait, and thus "lit the light" which guided Hudson to the great waters in British America which bear his name. In 1605 Weymouth was put in command of the Archangel, a vessel fitted out by the Earl of Southampton and his brother-in-law, Lord Thomas Arundell, of Wardour. He sailed from Ratcliffe in the beginning of March and visited Nantucket, Monhegan Island, and dis- covered a large river which has never been definitely identified. He traded with the In- dians and returned to England with a very valuable cargo of furs. He arrived at Dart- mouth, July 18, 1605. The last mention of him is on October 27, 1607, when he was granted a pension of 3s. 4d. per diem.

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Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume I, Part 2

Author: Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, 1853-1935, ed. cn Publication date: 1915 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 436

Author: Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, 1853-1935, ed. cn
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 436