Richard Whitbourne
Encyclopedia
Sir Richard Whitbourne was an English colonist
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....

, author and mariner.

Richard Whitbourne was born near Teignmouth
Teignmouth
Teignmouth is a town and civil parish in Teignbridge in the English county of Devon, situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign about 14 miles south of Exeter. It has a population of 14,413. In 1690, it was the last place in England to be invaded by a foreign power...

 in Devon, England. Whilst apprenticed to a merchant adventurer of Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

, he sailed extensively around Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and twice to Newfoundland. He served in a ship of his own against the Great Armada under Lord Admiral Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk
Admiral Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, KG, PC was a son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk by his second wife Margaret Audley, Duchess of Norfolk, the daughter and heiress of the 1st Baron Audley of Walden....

. He spent the next thirty years in cod fishing off Newfoundland. He assisted the pirates Peter Easton
Peter Easton
Peter Easton was a pirate in the early 17th century who operated along the Newfoundland coastline between Harbour Grace and Ferryland from 1611 to 1614...

 and Henry Mainwaring
Henry Mainwaring
Sir Henry Mainwaring , was an English pirate, naval officer with the Royal Navy, and author.- Early life :Henry Mainwaring was born in Ightfield in Shropshire, second son of Sir George Mainwaring and his wife Ann, the daughter of Sir William More of Loseley Park in Surrey. His maternal grandfather...

 to seek pardons from James I of England
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

.

Asked by William Vaughan to govern
Proprietary Governor
Proprietary Governors were individuals authorized to govern proprietary colonies. Under the proprietary system, individuals or companies were granted commercial charters by the King of England to establish colonies. These proprietors then selected the governors and other officials in the colony....

 his colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....

 at Renews in Newfoundland, he did so from 1618 until 1620 when Vaughan abandoned the venture. Whitbourne was sent to establish law and order in the colony, he was the first to hold a court of justice in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 at Trinity
Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador
Trinity is a small town located on Trinity Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador.The harbour at Trinity was first used by fishing ships around the 16th century. The Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real is said to have named this place because he arrived here on Trinity Sunday in 1501. It was settled by...

 in 1615.

In 1620, Whitbourne published A Discourse and Discovery of New-found-land in order to promote colonisation on the island.

See also

  • Newfoundland governors
  • Whitbourne, Newfoundland and Labrador
    Whitbourne, Newfoundland and Labrador
    Whitbourne is a town on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada in Division No. 1.Whitbourne, Newfoundland’s first inland town, is named after Sir Richard Whitbourne, one of the most colourful early settlers of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador who wrote a book about...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK