Today in 1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for the English Crown, making it the first English colony in the Americas. He is often credited with founding the British Empire. His plan was originally to take investment from Catholics who were interested in having a colony in America where they could worship, free of recusancy fines.
Gilbert left in June 1583 with five ships, though one had to turn back because it didn’t have enough food. They reached Newfoundland in July, had to overcome some local resistance, and took formal possession on August 5, including 200 leagues to the north and south, for Elizabeth and the English crown. Part of the ceremony was to cut the turf, symbolizing in English common law the transfer of possession of the soil. The locals presented him with a dog – he named her Stella after the North Star.
The fleet departed for home without making a settlement because they had no supplies. Gilbert, sailing his favorite ship the HMS Squirrel, ordered a change, of course, that was controversial and went against what more senior sailors wanted to do. One ship, the Delight, soon ran aground and sank, taking with it most of the supplies.
In early September they ran into huge waves near the Azores, and when his men told him he should go to the Golden Hinde, which was sailing with them, and was much larger, Gilbert said he’d just stay put. He was last sighted on 9 September reading a book – thought to be More’s Utopia. The Golden Hinde was within hailing distance, and the crew heard Gilbert cry out, “we are as near to Heaven by sea as by land,” pointing to the skies. Around midnight the lights were extinguished, and the crew on the Golden Hind said that the ship had sunk.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com where there are several episodes on Trade and Exploration in Elizabethan England.
Suggested links:
Episode 31: Trade and Exploration in the 16th Century
Episode 111: The Lost Colony of Roanoke (aka, when exploration and war collide)
Episode 114: Richard Hakluyt and Travel Writing
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop. She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.