Robert Tyndall or Tindall () was a mariner (

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the ship, inc ...

) and a surveyor in the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...

. He is notable for sailing to Virginia several times, and exploring the Chesapeake Bay, coastlines, and rivers with

Christopher Newport Christopher Newport ( – ) was an English seaman and privateer. During the war with Spain Newport was one of the most successful ' Elizabethan Sea Dogs' to venture to the Spanish Main, making large profits. Newport is best known as the c ...

, John Smith, and

Samuel Argall Sir Samuel Argall ( or 1580 – ) was an English sea captain, navigator, and Deputy-Governour of Virginia, an English colony. As a sea captain, in 1609, Argall was the first to determine a shorter northern route from England across the Atlan ...

Before Virginia

Robert Tyndall was a mariner who traveled with the original colonists to

Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent British colonization of the Americas, English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about southwest of present-day Willia ...

, in 1607.

Surveying Virginia

Brown 1608 Robert Tindall Virginia map PDF scan

Tyndall was part of the original

Virginia Company The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the objective of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day ...

ships that sailed from England in December, 1606, to colonise Virginia. When Captain

became lost in April, 1607, Tyndall used an

astrolabe An astrolabe (; ; ) is an astronomy, astronomical list of astronomical instruments, instrument dating to ancient times. It serves as a star chart and Model#Physical model, physical model of the visible celestial sphere, half-dome of the sky. It ...

to navigate the ships westward to

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

. In May, 1607, Robert Tyndall accompanied

and John Smith, aboard the ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

'' in surveying of the coastline and rivers. Near Turkey Island (James River), an unnamed native drew the English a map of the area which became the beginning of the "Tyndall draughte map". Tyndall mapped the York River during a journey to

Werowocomoco Werowocomoco was a village that served as the headquarters of Chief Powhatan, a Virginia Algonquian political and spiritual leader. The name ''Werowocomoco'' comes from the Powhatan ''werowans'' ('' weroance''), meaning "leader" in English; a ...

with Newport in February, 1608. This map is the first of its kind by a colonist of Jamestown.Mook, Maurice A. “The Ethnological Significance of Tindall’s Map of Virginia, 1608.” The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, vol. 23, no. 4, 1943, pp. 371–408. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1923191. Accessed 6 Nov. 2024.

Samuel Purchas Samuel Purchas ( – 1626) was an England, English Anglican cleric who published several volumes of reports by travellers to foreign countries. Career Purchas was born at Thaxted, Essex, England, Essex, son of a yeoman. He graduated from St J ...

and others used this map as a source for future Virginia charts. Tyndall, employed as a surveyor for the

Virginia Company of London The Virginia Company of London (sometimes called "London Company") was a Division (business), division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for British colonization of the Americas, colonizing the east coast of North America between 34th ...

, was called a "Gunner to Prince Henry", and wrote letters about Virginia to his sponsor,

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, (19 February 1594 – 6 November 1612), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King James VI and I and Anne of Denmark, Queen Anne. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; and Fr ...

. In 1608, he included a map: This map and letter were delivered to the Virginia Company of London when Captain Newport returned to England in late 1608. Tyndall's Point (across the river from

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a town in York County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while ...

, now called Gloucester Point) was originally named in Robert's honour. Tyndall's Point Park still bears his name and has historical markers. "Tindall's Shoals" (on the map) is Mulberry Island area. Tyndall identifies the now-named York River as "Prince Henneri His River", and upriver is "Poetan" (Powhatan) near Purtan Bay, which is the village of

Later adventures

In 1609, Tyndall, back in England, captained the ''

Mary and John ''Mary and John'' was a 400-ton ship that is known to have sailed between England and the American colonies four times from 1607 to 1634. Named in tribute to John and Mary Winthrop she was captained by Robert Davies and owned by Roger Ludlow ( ...

'' with

for a faster, more direct route to Virginia colony. Francisco Fernández de Écija, captain of the Spanish ''La Asunsión de Cristo'' (a small '' zabra'', an inshore exploration vessel), was tasked with the "matter of Virginia", to gather information on the English colony's strength. In Chesapeake Bay, the ''Mary and John'' intercepted the smaller ship and prevented it from entering the

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

and discovering the status of Jamestown. The ''Mary and John'' returned to England by October, 1609. Robert Tyndall and Argall again sailed with the Jamestown supply missions flotilla of

Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr ( ; 9 July 1576 – 7 June 1618), was an English nobleman, for whom the bay, the river, and, consequently, a Native American people and U.S. state, all later called "Delaware", were named. A member of the Ho ...

from England, arriving at

Cape Henry Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia located in the northeast corner of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to the long estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Ch ...

at the end of

Starving Time The Starving Time at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia was a period of starvation during the winter of 1609–1610. There were about 500 Jamestown residents at the beginning of the winter; by spring only 61 people remained alive. The colonis ...

, intercepting colonists abandoning the settlement. Tyndall was tasked with a fishing expedition on ''

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

'' to help feed the starving English.

Identity

Francisco Maguel, an "Irishman" who returned from Virginia to England in 1608, attributed a "Captain Tindol" in a report as being a Catholic sympathizer,Barbour, Philip L. "Captain George Kendall: Mutineer or Intelligencer?" The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 70, no. 3, 1962, pp. 297–313. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4246865. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024. but this moniker actually referred to either the deposed Councilor

Edward Maria Wingfield Edward Maria Wingfield (1550–1631) was a soldier, Member of Parliament (1593), and English colonist in America. He was the son of Thomas Maria Wingfield, and the grandson of Richard Wingfield. Captain John Smith wrote that from 1602 to 1603 ...

or the mutineer Councilor George Kendall Both Kendall and Wingfield were suspected spies for the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

--it is doubtful that Robert Tyndall (under the employ of the Prince of Wales and the Virginia Company) would be involved with Spain. John Smith mentions in '' Generall Historie of Virginia'' that

sailed with a "Master Thomas Sedan", which is likely Master Robert Tyndall. There is speculation that Smith didn't want to name a rival cartographer.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyndall, Robert People from colonial Virginia 17th-century English explorers History of Virginia

Before Virginia

Surveying Virginia

Later adventures

Identity

See also

Notes