Today is the birthday in 1572 of William Strachey, an early English historian who was one of the first sources of information on the English colonies in the new world.
He also was an eyewitness of the 1609 shipwreck of the Sea Venture on Bermuda, caught in a hurricane while on the way to Virginia. After spending ten months on Bermuda, the survivors built two small ships, and eventually made it to Virginia. And it was this account that inspired Shakespeare to write The Tempest.
Strachey had been on board the Sea Venture when it was caught in the hurricane and run aground on Bermuda. This was the accidental beginnings of England colonizing the islands. Strachey wrote a letter in 1610 with an account of the disaster, as well as a report on the Jamestown colony, but as he was critical of the way the colony was being managed, the Virginia Company tried to suppress the letter.
Later after the company was dissolved, the letter was published. His writings are some of the earliest first hand reports on Virginia during this period, and he also recorded a glossary of the words of Powhatan, the only one other than Captain John Smith’s.
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.
Suggested link:
Episode 31: Trade and Exploration in the 16th century
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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.