Sir Richard Whitbourne (1561–1635) was an English

colonist A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

mariner A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor' ...

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 and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, he sailed extensively around

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and twice to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. 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, (24 August 1561 – 28 May 1626), of Audley End House in the parish of Saffron Walden in Essex, and of Suffolk House near Westminster, a member of the House of Howard, was the second son of Thomas Howard ...

. He spent the next thirty years in cod fishing off

. He assisted the pirates

Peter Easton Peter Easton ( – 1620 or after) was an English privateer and later pirate in the early 17th century. Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life. By 1602, Easton had become a highly successful privateer, commissioned to protect En ...

and

Henry Mainwaring Sir Henry Mainwaring (1587–1653), was an English lawyer, soldier, writer, seaman and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622. He was for a time a pirate based in Newfoundland and then a naval officer with the Royal Nav ...

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 unti ...

. Asked by William Vaughan to govern his

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

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

, 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 is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

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 harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

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''
1561 births 1635 deaths Governors of Newfoundland Colony Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) 16th-century English writers 16th-century English male writers 17th-century English writers People from Teignbridge (district) 17th-century English explorers 17th-century English knights People from Renews-Cappahayden Expatriates from the Kingdom of England 17th-century English male writers English sailors {{Gov-bio-stub

See also

References and notes

External links