terrible storms. Sir Humphrey tried to reassure his crew by always walking above decks and even reading a book whilst they were swamped with massive waves, but his steely resolve could not prevent the sinking of the Squirrel in September taking all men, including Sir Humphrey, with it. The Golden Hind returned to Dartmouth, with less than a fifth of the men who originally set out in June. However unsuccessful Sir Humphrey was his exploits inspired others - including the best friend of his younger brother Adrian.
John Davis was an experienced captain, who was inspired to search for the North West Passage by Gilbert. He took two very small ships to explore the seas around Newfoundland in 1585, two years after Sir Humphrey’s death. He seems to have been clever, canny and quite committed to his cause. He realised soon after arriving in Newfoundland that he needed to be able to ask for help from the ‘Eskimaux’ inhabitants. So he began to compile a makeshift dictionary of phrases to use with them. His meticulous drawings of the coast meant that others would be able to navigate in the dangerous waters, and the water between the coast of Newfoundland and Greenland still bears his name: The Davis Strait. He returned three times to the area and did much to allow others to explore further and deeper than ever before. He had a patent to trade with China, and realised that if he did not get to the place, he would never realise riches or success. So he turned to face east, and tried to find new ways to the Jade Empire.
In a series of voyages between 1591 and 1605 he visited Rio de Janeiro, Magellan’s Strait, St Helena, Ascension Island, the Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar, the Seycelles, the Maldives, Siam and Indonesia. He never, however, made it to China. He paid a heavy price for his expeditions, losing all of his money and his wife to another man – who then tried to take him to court on charges Davis had mistreated the woman. Although he was exonerated, Davis must have been devastated by this turn of events.
Perhaps as a reaction to this, the search for a route to China seems to have become an obsession, as he took greater and greater risks to reach it, even as his reputation as a navigator grew. In 1605 he invited some Japanese pirates onto his ship to see if they could help him get to China. They tried to take the ship and Davis was killed in the fight. He was 62.
Sir Humphrey Gilbert
Davis’ expeditions seem to have been the catalyst for many. Sir Walter Raleigh took famous expeditions to Roanoke in Virginia and Guiana twice. On his first trip he took his nephew, and Sir Humphrey’s son. On his final trip he took his
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son Walter, who was then killed in a fight with Spanish ships. Heartbroken, he
returned home, to find the Spanish Ambassador had demanded the King execute him in retaliation for his attack
Replica of the Golden Hind in Brixham
on the ships he believed were loaded with treasure. In what is regarded as one of the most unfair decisions
in English legal history, the King agreed and Raleigh was beheaded that year – his final words, spoken to his executioner, were reportedly, ‘Strike man, Strike!’ Dartmouth began to become rich from the triangular trade from Newfoundland and the Mediterranean and Dartmouth became a regular stop off for ships going on long and dangerous voyages. Then, after all these great men had passed, beaten by disease or disaster, a group just as, if not more intrepid set out from Dartmouth’s Bayards Cove: the Pilgrim Fathers set out in 1620, destined to become the founders of the world’s biggest and most influential nation. Yet again Dartmouth showed itself to be a small town which had a large influence over world events.u
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