Sir Richard Whitbourne (1561 – 1635) was an English

colonist A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settl ...

, mariner and writer. Richard Whitbourne was born near Bishopsteignton in south Devon, England, where he was baptised on 20 June 1561. Whilst apprenticed to a merchant adventurer of

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

, he sailed extensively around

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

and twice to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. He served in a ship of his own against the

Great Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an ar ...

under Lord Admiral Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk. He spent the next thirty years in cod fishing off

. He assisted the pirates

Peter Easton Peter Easton ( – 1620 or after) was a pirate in the early 17th century. The 'most famous English pirate of the day', his piracies ranged from Ireland and Guinea to Newfoundland. He is best known today for his involvement in the early En ...

and Henry Mainwaring to seek pardons from

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until h ...

. Asked by William Vaughan to govern his

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

Renews Renews–Cappahayden is a small fishing town on the southern shore of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland, south of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's. The town was incorporated in the mid-1960s by amalgamating the formerly inde ...

, 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 at

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...

in 1615. In 1620, Whitbourne published ''A Discourse and Discovery of New-found-land'' in order to promote colonisation on the island. Between 1589 (at latest) and 1627 Whitbourne had a house at or near

Exmouth Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. Histo ...

on the south Devon coast of England.He is referred to as "Captaine Richard Whitbourne of Exmouth" in ''At Theobalds, the 12. of Aprill 1622. The copy of a reference from the Kings most excellent Maiesty: as also a letter from the right honourable lords of His Maiesties most honourable Priuy Councell, to the most reuerend fathers in God, the lords arch-bishops of Canterbury and Yorke their graces'' (F. Kingston 1622), open view a
Umich/eebo
Perhaps dying on a foreign voyage, his burial place has yet to be confirmed of either his place of birth or at St. Saviour's Church, Southwark, London.

References and notes

External links

Government House ''The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador''Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1579 births 1635 deaths Governors of Newfoundland Colony Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers 17th-century English writers People from Teignbridge (district) English explorers 17th-century explorers English knights People from Renews-Cappahayden Kingdom of England people in Newfoundland 17th-century English male writers English sailors {{UK-gov-bio-stub

See also

References and notes

External links