|
The
Vikings | Columbus
| John Day |
John Cabot |
Martin Frobisher |
Jacques Cartier
| John Guy |
Henry Hudson |
Samuel De
Champlain |
Native Perceptions |
Francis Drake |
Humphrey Gilbert
Sir Humphrey Gilbert
was educated at Oxford and was a member of Queen
Elizabeth's household before she became queen. His early
interest in exploration led him to prepare and publish a
book, A Discourcs of a Discoveries for a Passage to
Cataia, which essentially made the argument that England
needed to find the Northwest Passage to the far east
over the North of the Americas.
 |
This work
inspired both Frobisher and Davis to mount
expeditions to find the passage. It may have
also influenced the Queen who backed Frobisher's
second voyage. He was also a half brother of Sir
Walter Raleigh who was instrumental in the
Roanoke Island Colony.
His interest
led him to campaign for Letters of Patent, which
he received in 1578, to start an English colony
in North America. On June 11th, 1583 he sailed
from Plymouth and arrived at present day St
John's Newfoundland which he claimed for England
on August 5th.
To Right: Gilbert
turning the sod on during a ceremony which
claimed the land for England and signaled the
establishment of the colony. |
He spent some time
exploring the Newfoundland coast and in late summer
sailed for England. On September 9th he was onboard the
Squirrel, when the Golden Hind, a large ship drew near,
and was urged to transfer to the Hind. He commented "We
are as near to heaven by sea as by land." As evening
fell the Squirrel was swallowed by the sea and sunk.
The colonists at St John's were much more
interested in mining for gold then building a colony and
hence the settlement failed. |
