Robert Hayman
Encyclopedia
Robert Hayman was a poet, colonist and Proprietary Governor
of Bristol's Hope
colony
in Newfoundland.
, Devon, the eldest of nine children. His mother was Alice Gaverocke and his father, Nicholas Hayman, a prosperous citizen and later mayor and M.P. of both Totnes
and Dartmouth
. By 1579 the family was living in Totnes, where in the high street Hayman as a small boy met Sir Francis Drake
, who presented him with an orange (Hayman records the incident in one of his poems).
According to the 17th century historian Anthony Wood
Hayman was educated at Exeter College
and the college register shows him matriculating on 15 October 1590 (the register wrongly shows his age as eleven whereas in fact he was fifteen). He then, according to Wood, "retired to Lincolns-inn, without the honour of a degree": but here Wood is incorrect, as Hayman commenced B.A. on 8 July 1596. He was admitted as a law student to Lincoln's Inn on 16 October 1596, where, again according to Wood,he "studied for a time the municipal law", though modern researches find no evidence of this or of any intention to qualify as a lawyer. In his supplication for B.A. Hayman had mentioned a plan to travel and study in Europe, and this apparently happened, as in a letter his father wrote to Robert Cecil
in 1600 he states that he hoped for a career for his son in some government office, and that towards this end he had educated him at both Oxford University and at Poitiers
. Wood explains that "his geny being well known to be poetical, (he) fell into acquaintance with" a literary circle which included Ben Jonson
, Michael Drayton
, John Donne
, George Wither
, John Owen
and others. These encouraged his literary efforts with the result, according to Wood, that Hayman had "the general vogue of a poet". Perhaps because of these distractions Hayman seems not to have achieved any significant public office in England. Although Edward Sharpham dedicated a play to him in 1607 there is nothing further known about his activities for twenty years until he emerges as a venturer and colonist to the new world.
, to Grace Spicer, daughter of a prominent merchant of Exeter; but they appear to have had no children and as Hayman does not mention her directly in his works it seems she died young. Several of the poems later published in the book 'Quodlibets' however are dedicated to other members of the Spicer family, so he apparently remained on friendly terms with them.
colony's first and only governor in 1618 when Bristol's Society of Merchant Venturers
received a charter
from King James I of England
to establish the settlement. Hayman's brother-in-law John Barker
was the society's master. Hayman lived in the colony for fifteen months before returning to England and visited again over several summers until his tenure as governor ended in 1628. Much of his work was in England raising money for the settlement, publicizing it and encouraging more colonisation efforts. In 1628 he petitioned the king
's favourite the Duke of Buckingham
to forward a ‘Proposition of profitt and honor’ to the king which set out the need to encourage continued colonization of Newfoundland, and which specifically mentioned a plan to build a settlement to be called 'Carolinople' (i.e. "Charles's Town").
As Newfoundland's first poet
in English, Hayman is remembered for his writings extolling the island, its climate and its early English pioneers. In his leisure hours as Governor in Harbour Grace he composed a work later published in England as Quodlibets. Quodlibets("What you will") was the first book in the English language written in what would become Canada. Some of it consisted of original short poems by Hayman, and some of translations, both of Latin poems by John Owen (epigrammatist)
and of French prose by Rabelais
. It was published in London in 1628, presumably as part of Hayman's attempts to raise interest in the colony.
Although Hayman apparently remained committed to Newfoundland he was also interested in other colonial ventures, including one to Guiana
under the direction of Robert Harcourt. Having arranged his financial affairs he made his will late in the fall of 1628 and left in the Little Hopewell for the Amazon
. By February 1629 (new style) he was in Guiana looking into using the river 'Wiapoco' (modern Oyapock) as a trading route.
" taken out with the diocesan Chancellor of London, Arthur Duck
. Of the value of £100 each, one related to the safe arrival of Hayman's ship in Guiana
and the other was "of one hundred pounds assured by the said Doctor Arthur Ducke on my life".
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....
of Bristol's Hope
Bristol's Hope, Newfoundland and Labrador
Bristol's Hope is the modern name of a community in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is located on Conception Bay between Carbonear and Harbour Grace....
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....
in Newfoundland.
Early life and education
Hayman was born in Wolborough near Newton AbbotNewton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England on the River Teign, with a population of 23,580....
, Devon, the eldest of nine children. His mother was Alice Gaverocke and his father, Nicholas Hayman, a prosperous citizen and later mayor and M.P. of both Totnes
Totnes
Totnes is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
and Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
. By 1579 the family was living in Totnes, where in the high street Hayman as a small boy met Sir Francis Drake
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
, who presented him with an orange (Hayman records the incident in one of his poems).
According to the 17th century historian Anthony Wood
Anthony Wood
Anthony Wood or Anthony à Wood was an English antiquary.-Early life:Anthony Wood was the fourth son of Thomas Wood , BCL of Oxford, where Anthony was born...
Hayman was educated at Exeter College
Exeter College
Exeter College may refer to:* Exeter College, Oxford a college of Oxford University* Exeter College, Exeter a college in Exeter, Devon...
and the college register shows him matriculating on 15 October 1590 (the register wrongly shows his age as eleven whereas in fact he was fifteen). He then, according to Wood, "retired to Lincolns-inn, without the honour of a degree": but here Wood is incorrect, as Hayman commenced B.A. on 8 July 1596. He was admitted as a law student to Lincoln's Inn on 16 October 1596, where, again according to Wood,he "studied for a time the municipal law", though modern researches find no evidence of this or of any intention to qualify as a lawyer. In his supplication for B.A. Hayman had mentioned a plan to travel and study in Europe, and this apparently happened, as in a letter his father wrote to Robert Cecil
Robert Cecil
Robert Cecil may refer to:*Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury , statesman, spymaster and minister to Elizabeth I of England and James I of England...
in 1600 he states that he hoped for a career for his son in some government office, and that towards this end he had educated him at both Oxford University and at Poitiers
University of Poitiers
The University of Poitiers is a university in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group.-History:Founded in 1431 by Pope Eugene IV and chartered by King Charles VII, the University of Poitiers was originally composed of five faculties: theology, canon law, civil law, medicine, and...
. Wood explains that "his geny being well known to be poetical, (he) fell into acquaintance with" a literary circle which included Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
, Michael Drayton
Michael Drayton
Michael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era.-Early life:He was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothing is known about his early life, beyond the fact that in 1580 he was in the service of Thomas Goodere of Collingham,...
, John Donne
John Donne
John Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
, George Wither
George Wither
George Wither was an English poet, pamphleteer, and satirist. He was a prolific writer who adopted a deliberate plainness of style; he was several times imprisoned. C. V...
, John Owen
John Owen (epigrammatist)
John Owen was a Welsh epigrammatist, most known for his Latin epigrams, collected in his Epigrammata.He is also cited by various Latinizations including Ioannes Owen, Joannes Oweni, Ovenus and Audoenus....
and others. These encouraged his literary efforts with the result, according to Wood, that Hayman had "the general vogue of a poet". Perhaps because of these distractions Hayman seems not to have achieved any significant public office in England. Although Edward Sharpham dedicated a play to him in 1607 there is nothing further known about his activities for twenty years until he emerges as a venturer and colonist to the new world.
Family
Hayman was married on 21 May 1604 at St Petroc's Church, ExeterExeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, to Grace Spicer, daughter of a prominent merchant of Exeter; but they appear to have had no children and as Hayman does not mention her directly in his works it seems she died young. Several of the poems later published in the book 'Quodlibets' however are dedicated to other members of the Spicer family, so he apparently remained on friendly terms with them.
Colonial career
Hayman was appointed the NewfoundlandHistory of Newfoundland and Labrador
The History of Newfoundland and Labrador is the story of the peoples who have lived in what is now the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador....
colony's first and only governor in 1618 when Bristol's Society of Merchant Venturers
Society of Merchant Venturers
The Society of Merchant Venturers is a private entrepreneurial and charitable organisation in the English city of Bristol, which dates back to the 13th century...
received a charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
from King 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...
to establish the settlement. Hayman's brother-in-law John Barker
John Barker
John Barker may refer to:John Barker South African film maker*John Barker , Old Etonian logician*Sir John Barker, 4th Baronet , English MP for Ipswich*John Barker John Barker may refer to:John Barker (South Africa) (born 1968) South African film maker*John Barker (scholar) (fl. c. 1471–1482),...
was the society's master. Hayman lived in the colony for fifteen months before returning to England and visited again over several summers until his tenure as governor ended in 1628. Much of his work was in England raising money for the settlement, publicizing it and encouraging more colonisation efforts. In 1628 he petitioned the king
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
's favourite the Duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham
The titles Marquess and Duke of Buckingham, referring to Buckingham, have been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been Earls of Buckingham.-1444 creation:...
to forward a ‘Proposition of profitt and honor’ to the king which set out the need to encourage continued colonization of Newfoundland, and which specifically mentioned a plan to build a settlement to be called 'Carolinople' (i.e. "Charles's Town").
As Newfoundland's first poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
in English, Hayman is remembered for his writings extolling the island, its climate and its early English pioneers. In his leisure hours as Governor in Harbour Grace he composed a work later published in England as Quodlibets. Quodlibets("What you will") was the first book in the English language written in what would become Canada. Some of it consisted of original short poems by Hayman, and some of translations, both of Latin poems by John Owen (epigrammatist)
John Owen (epigrammatist)
John Owen was a Welsh epigrammatist, most known for his Latin epigrams, collected in his Epigrammata.He is also cited by various Latinizations including Ioannes Owen, Joannes Oweni, Ovenus and Audoenus....
and of French prose by Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
. It was published in London in 1628, presumably as part of Hayman's attempts to raise interest in the colony.
Although Hayman apparently remained committed to Newfoundland he was also interested in other colonial ventures, including one to Guiana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
under the direction of Robert Harcourt. Having arranged his financial affairs he made his will late in the fall of 1628 and left in the Little Hopewell for the Amazon
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
. By February 1629 (new style) he was in Guiana looking into using the river 'Wiapoco' (modern Oyapock) as a trading route.
Death
It was while travelling up the Oyapock by canoe that Hayman died of a sudden fever and was hastily buried by his companions near the banks of the river, on or about 17 October 1629. His will, signed and sealed on 17 November 1628 but not proved until 1633(1632 old style), leaves his estate to "my loving Cosin and Nephew Thomas Muchell of Longaston in the Countie of Somersett..." His will also mentions two "policies of insuranceInsurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
" taken out with the diocesan Chancellor of London, Arthur Duck
Arthur Duck
Arthur Duck, LL.D., was an English lawyer and Member of Parliament.-Life:Born at Heavitree in Devon in 1580, the younger son of Richard Duck of Heavitree, by his wife, Joanna, and younger brother of Nicholas Duck, he was educated at Exeter College and Hart Hall, Oxford , and elected a fellow of...
. Of the value of £100 each, one related to the safe arrival of Hayman's ship in Guiana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
and the other was "of one hundred pounds assured by the said Doctor Arthur Ducke on my life".
See also
- List of Newfoundland and Labrador lieutenant-governors
- Proprietary GovernorProprietary GovernorProprietary 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....