New World, Inc.

by John Butman

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2018 by John Butman and Simon Targett

  Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

  1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104

  littlebrown.com

  twitter.com/littlebrown

  facebook.com/littlebrownandcompany

  First ebook edition: March 2018

  Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  Credits and copyright information for the photos and illustrations can be found here.

  ISBN 978-0-316-30787-1

  E3-20180227-JV-PC

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Cast of Characters

  The Prequel to the Pilgrims

  I. Before America, 1551–1574 1. Waxing Cold and in Decay

  2. The Lure of Cathay

  3. The Mysterie

  4. A Newe and Strange Navigation

  5. An Elusive Realm

  II. Enterprise, 1574–1604 6. The Last Great Challenge of the Age

  7. The Supposed Strait

  8. Tresor Trouvee

  9. Ilandish Empire

  10. Nova Albion

  11. To Heaven by Sea

  12. Western Planting

  13. Principal Navigations

  14. The Old East and the New West

  III. Commonwealth, 1604–1621 15. Two Virginias

  16. A Public Plantation

  17. First Colony

  18. A Stake in the Ground

  19. A Weighty Voyage

  Forgotten Founders

  Chronology

  A Note to the Reader

  Map of the World in 1550–1621

  Photos

  Acknowledgments

  About the Authors

  Select Bibliography

  Notes

  Newsletters

  To my parents, Olive and Robert—John

  To my parents, Val and Pete—Simon

  Cast of Characters:The Seventy-Five Men and Women Who Helped Make America

  Clement Adams (c. 1519–1587) was a writer, engraver and tutor. One of William Cecil’s Cambridge-educated acolytes, Adams was hired to help Sebastian Cabot engrave an updated version of his 1544 map, featuring new details of the Northwest Passage. This map was reproduced widely and later hung on the wall of Whitehall Palace, and Adams was rewarded with the post of schoolmaster to the king’s henchmen—Edward VI’s young friends. He subsequently wrote the account of the first Mysterie voyage, after interviewing Richard Chancellor.

  Matthew Baker (c. 1530–1613) was a royal shipwright who designed and built the Gabriel, Frobisher’s first vessel. He also designed Edward Fenton’s flagship for the aborted voyage to the Spice Islands in 1582. He compiled the first English treatise on ship design—Fragments of Ancient English Shipwrightry—which was later collected by Samuel Pepys, the naval administrator and diarist.

  George Barne (c. 1500–1558) was one of the two “principal doers”—the real architects of the Mysterie. A member of the Haberdashers, he was Lord Mayor of London in 1552–1553. His son, also George Barne (d. 1593), became governor of the Muscovy Company, a leading investor in overseas ventures (although he withheld his support for Frobisher), and later followed in his father’s footsteps as Lord Mayor of London.

  George Best (c. 1555–1584) was a writer and sea captain. The son of Robert Best, a translator for the Muscovy Company, Best was educated at Eton. He served as a captain in Frobisher’s second expedition. His chronicles of Frobisher’s three voyages provided the classic account of England’s first detailed exploration of the New World. He died in a duel with a peer of the realm.

  William Bonde (d. 1576) was a merchant and civic administrator. A member of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, he became Sheriff of London in 1567, and was wealthy enough to buy Crosby Hall, one of the city’s most prestigious mansions. There, the leading merchants behind the first Frobisher voyage to Cathay met to plan the expedition.

  Stephen Borough (1525–1584) was a sea captain and naval administrator. He served as master on Richard Chancellor’s ship in the first Mysterie voyage to Cathay. In 1555, he became one of the youngest charter members of what later became known as the Muscovy Company. He made a pioneering voyage to the White Sea along the Northeast Passage to Cathay, but he was among those skeptical of Frobisher’s plans to search for the Northwest Passage. By contrast, his brother, William Borough (1536–1598), was actively involved in the organization of Frobisher’s voyages.

  William Bradford (1590–1657) was one of the Pilgrim Fathers and a founder of the Plymouth Colony. His account of the separatists’ story, Of Plymouth Plantation, was lost after his death, and only came to light in the mid-nineteenth century, when its publication by Little, Brown rekindled interest in the founding myth of America.

  John Brereton (c. 1571–1619) was a clergyman and writer. He accompanied Bartholomew Gosnold on his voyage to the New World. His account, A Brief and True Relation of the Discovery of the North Part of Virginia, was the first published account of a voyage to New England (other than Giovanni da Verrazzano’s account of his 1524 voyage, published in Italian in 1556).

  Sebastian Cabot (c. 1482–1557) was an explorer, navigator, and naval administrator. He accompanied his father, John Cabot (c. 1451–1498), on the successful voyage to the New World in 1497. He later claimed to have discovered the entrance to the Northwest Passage during a voyage in 1508–1509. He served the Spanish as pilot major and later transferred allegiance to England, where he was made governor of the Mysterie (later the Muscovy Company) and oversaw the first voyages in search of a passage to Cathay.

  William Cecil (1520–1598) was initially John Dudley’s right-hand man before becoming Elizabeth I’s long-serving adviser. He became Lord Burghley, and he was connected with many major overseas ventures, first as a leading investor in the Mysterie and later as a prominent courtier behind the Frobisher voyages. His son Robert Cecil (1563–1612) became the Earl of Salisbury, served as adviser to James I, and continued his father’s support of overseas ventures.

  Richard Chancellor (d. 1556) was the pilot major on the first Mysterie voyage to Cathay in 1553. On this visit, he secured trading rights after reaching Moscow and meeting Ivan IV, the tsar later known as “The Terrible.” On a second visit, he strengthened commercial ties between England and Russia. But he drowned at sea on the homeward journey, when escorting the first Russian ambassador to England. One of his sons, Nicholas Chancellor, was purser on several voyages, including the Frobisher voyages.

  Humfrey Cole (d. 1591) was a maker of navigational instruments. He designed the instruments used in the Frobisher voyages.

  Thomas Dale (d. 1619) was a soldier and colonial leader. He arrived in Jamestown in 1611 and enforced strict military law, which was codified in the Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall. He oversaw an ex
pansion of the colony beyond Jamestown, founding the city of Henrico, named after James I’s son Prince Henry. He also introduced measures that paved the way for the creation of private plantations in Virginia. In 1616, he returned to England, bringing Pocahontas to London. He later served the East India Company and died in India.

  John Dee (1527–1609) was a mathematician, cosmographer, and astrologer. A Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge while still a teenager, he was hired to help Richard Chancellor and Martin Frobisher prepare for their voyages across uncharted waters to Cathay. As Elizabeth I’s favorite astrologer, he approved the date for her coronation. Also, he made the case for her title to lands in the New World, coining the phrase “British Empire.” Humphrey Gilbert gave him the right to all the land north of today’s US-Canada border. He never sought to claim these lands, however.

  Francis Drake (1540–1596) was an explorer. The first English captain to complete a circumnavigation, he struck a trade deal with the king of Ternate in the Spice Islands; laid claim to the northwest coast of America, which he named Nova Albion; and captured a hoard of Spanish treasure that transformed him into one of the richest men in England. His remarkable success earned him the Spanish nickname “El Draque” and served as a catalyst for a new surge of interest in colonial activity.

  Lionel Duckett (1511–1587) was a merchant. A member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers, he was governor of the Muscovy Company and the Company of Mines Royal, and he became Lord Mayor of London in 1572. The business partner of Thomas Gresham, he was an early supporter of the Frobisher voyages to Cathay, going against the consensus held by other leaders of the Muscovy Company.

  John Dudley (1504–1553) was a soldier and courtier. He became the Earl of Warwick (1547) and Duke of Northumberland (1551). As Lord President, he was de facto king from 1549 and gave London’s merchants the support they needed to embark on the search for new markets. Two of this sons, Ambrose Dudley (c. 1530–1590), who became Earl of Warwick, and Robert Dudley (c. 1533–1588), who became Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth I’s favorite, were prominent investors in overseas ventures. Ambrose’s wife, Anne, Countess of Warwick (c. 1548–1604), was a supporter of the Frobisher voyages and had an island and a sound named after her.

  Richard Eden (c. 1520–1576) was a translator. Educated at Cambridge, where he studied under Thomas Smith, he became secretary to William Cecil, compiling the travel dossier for the first Mysterie voyage to Cathay in 1553. He followed this with an expanded dossier for the second voyage in 1555. In doing so, he introduced several new words into the English language, including “China” and “colony.”

  Elizabeth I (1533–1603) was the longest-reigning queen until Victoria in the nineteenth century. She presided over a series of overseas ventures that led to the creation of the first British empire, and her nickname—the Virgin Queen—is remembered in the name of America’s oldest state: Virginia. Although reluctant to invest money in foreign enterprises, she encouraged colonial development, diverting state monopolies to leading adventurers such as Walter Ralegh.

  Martin Frobisher (c. 1535–1594) was a pirate and privateer who became a pioneering navigator and led three epic voyages in search of the Northwest Passage in the 1570s. He left his mark on the landscape—Frobisher Bay is named after him. He later earned a knighthood after distinguishing himself in the defense of England during the battle against the Spanish Armada.

  William Garrard (c. 1510–1571) was one of the two “principal doers” of the Mysterie (along with George Barne). A Haberdasher, he became Lord Mayor of London in 1555–56 and governor of the Muscovy Company. His daughter married George Barne’s son, George.

  Thomas Gates (d. 1622) was a soldier and colonial leader. One of the eight people named in the Virginia Charter, he was among the settlers shipwrecked off the coast of Bermuda. Later, he arrived in Jamestown, which had endured a miserable winter, and took the decision to abandon the colony—only to turn back after meeting a relief supply with new colonists coming the other way. He served as effective governor until 1614.

  Humphrey Gilbert (1537–1583) was a courtier, colonist, and adventurer. He studied at Eton and Oxford, and served Elizabeth when she was still a princess before becoming a soldier in the army. He fought in the abortive campaign to win back Calais and tried to establish colonies in Ireland, where he won notoriety (and a knighthood) for the brutal way he put down a rebellion. He is best remembered as the author of the Discourse of a Discoverie for a New Passage to Cataia and the leader who claimed Newfoundland for Elizabeth I. His son, Raleigh Gilbert, was one of the leaders of the short-lived Popham Colony.

  Ferdinando Gorges (1568–1647) was a soldier and colonial investor. Captain of the Plymouth Fort, succeeding Francis Drake in that post, Gorges became fascinated by the New World when he hosted some Indians captured by George Waymouth in 1605. He was one of the prime movers behind the Popham Colony and later led the Council for New England that gave the Pilgrims their letters patent. He was granted the province of Maine but never fulfilled his dream to visit the New World.

  Bartholomew Gosnold (d. 1607) was a lawyer and colonial leader. A kinsman of Thomas Smythe, he led an expedition to Virginia in 1602, and gave Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard their names. He returned with an exotic tree—sassafras—which was believed to have magical medicinal properties. In 1606, he was one of the leaders of the first voyage of the London Company, which led to the founding of Jamestown. He died within a few months of his arrival in the New World.

  Richard Grenville (1542–1591) was a naval commander and colonial investor. A kinsman of Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Ralegh, he worked with the first on colonial enterprises in Ireland and South America. When these came to nothing, he worked with Ralegh on the Roanoke Colony, commanding the fleet that escorted the settlers in 1585.

  Thomas Gresham (1518–1579) was a leading cloth merchant and financial adviser to three monarchs. A founding member of the Muscovy Company, he was a prominent supporter of the Frobisher voyages. He built the Royal Exchange, England’s first bourse, which marked the beginning of London’s rise as a global financial center.

  Richard Hakluyt (c. 1552–1616) was a clergyman and colonial publicist. As a schoolboy, he was introduced to the glories of cosmography by his cousin, also Richard Hakluyt (d. 1591). After Oxford, he wrote a series of works championing colonization in the New World—above all Principal Navigations and Voyages, which first appeared in 1589, and later reappeared in an expanded version in 1598–1600. He was one of eight people listed on the first Virginia charter that led to the founding of Jamestown.

  Thomas Harriot (c. 1560–1621) was a mathematician, scientist, and colonist. Hired by Walter Ralegh, he learned the rudiments of Algonquian and traveled on the first English colonial voyage to Roanoke in 1585. There, he prepared notes on the food, commodities, and people, which he later published as Brief and True Report of the Newfound Land of Virginia. After returning to England in 1586, he settled on Ralegh’s Irish estates and subsequently won acclaim as a mathematician and stargazer, pioneering the use of telescopes.

  Christopher Hatton (c. 1540–1591) was a courtier and one of Elizabeth I’s favorites. From the 1570s, when he was captain of the queen’s bodyguard and an industrious member of the privy council, he wielded great influence in overseas ventures. He supported George Best, Frobisher’s chronicler, John Dee, who dedicated his work on the British empire to Hatton, and Francis Drake, who changed the name of his flagship from the Pelican to the Golden Hind—the defining feature of Hatton’s coat-of-arms.

  James I (1566–1625) was the son of Elizabeth I’s hated cousin, Mary Queen of Scots. He succeeded Elizabeth in 1603 and, guided by Robert Cecil, supported colonial efforts, with the first enduring English colony, and the river on which it was situated, named after him: Jamestown and the James River. His eldest son, Prince Henry (1594–1612), was an enthusiastic supporter of colonial activities in Virginia before his untimely death at the age of eighteen.

  Robert Johnson (fl. 1586�
��1626) was a merchant, colonial investor and promoter. A member of the Worshipful Company of Grocers, he was a loyal supporter of Thomas Smythe as deputy treasurer of the Virginia Company. He wrote some renowned pamphlets exhorting people to invest in the Jamestown Colony—notably Nova Britannia, published in 1609. He became an alderman of London in 1617 but lost out to Edwin Sandys in the race to succeed Smythe as treasurer of the Virginia Company.

  Andrew Judde (c. 1492–1558) was Lord Mayor of London in 1551 when the cloth crisis hit England’s capital. Later, he was Mayor of the Staple in Calais, serving in the year that the port was recaptured by the French after more than two centuries in England’s possession. He was one of the senior merchants responsible for founding the Mysterie.

  Michael Lok (1532–1620) was the son of Sir William Lok, the “king’s merchant” in Henry VIII’s day. He was the agent of the Muscovy Company and the leading merchant behind Frobisher’s voyages in the 1570s. He lost his family fortune, ending up in a debtor’s prison on several occasions. But he remained influential, producing a map of the world that was reprinted by Hakluyt in 1582. He later served as the Levant Company’s resident merchant in Aleppo.

  Christopher Newport (1561–1617) was a sea captain and privateer. He came to prominence in the sea war with Spain in the 1590s, captaining the ship that seized the rich cargo of the Madre de Dios in 1592. He led the first voyage of the London Company to Virginia in 1606, and subsequently made several resupply voyages. Later, he served the East India Company, and he died on the Indonesian island of Java.

  Philip II (1527–1598) was a Spanish king and, when he also held the title of king of Portugal, the most powerful man in the world, commanding two global empires. When he was a prince, the Philippines were named after him, and when he succeeded his father in 1556, he was already king of England, having married Mary I (1516–1558). When she died in 1558, he tried to remain king of England, offering to marry Elizabeth. But this never happened, and the two monarchs became enemies, with Elizabeth supporting efforts to establish bases in the New World from which raids could be launched on Spain’s prized treasure fleet. Philip launched his Armada in an effort to overthrow her. His death in 1598 signaled the end of a long sea war between England and Spain.