Podcast – Sir Humphrey Gilbert And His Ill Fated Attempt To Settle Newfoundland

Sir Humphrey Gilbert And His Ill Fated Attempt To Settle Newfoundland
Today the author talks about the exploits of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and his attempt to settle Newfoundland.
From the Book
Colonial American History Stories – 1215 – 1664
Transcript:

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Sir Humphrey Gilbert Ill-fated Attempt To Settle Newfoundland
Native to Devon, England, Sir Humphrey Gilbert attended Oxford where he received training in the military and navigational arts. He joined the British military and served at the siege of Le Havre on the French coast where he was wounded. He and Sir Walter Raleigh were half-brothers.

He became interested in trying to find the elusive Northwest Passage and sought the approval of Queen Elizabeth for an expedition to the New World, who demurred. Gilbert later performed valuable military service for the Queen, for which the Queen knighted him. She then gave him letters of patent which entitled him to establish a colony in the New World in 1578. The patent would expire in 6 years.

Gilbert launched his first effort on September 26, 1578. Shortly after departing a storm blew up, scattering his fleet and forcing him to return.

He mounted his second expedition on June 11, 1583. His intention was to seize the fishing grounds off Newfoundland and thus control access by Spain, Portugal, and France. The nutrient rich waters of the North Atlantic provided an excellent habitat for many types of fish including Atlantic cod, swordfish, haddock and capeli. He intended to establish a colony and then issue licenses to these fishermen which would allow them to fish. These fishermen did not live permanently on the island, they constructed shacks and drying racks where they would dry their catches.

Gilbert’s 5 ship expedition, hampered on the voyage by thick fog, arrived off the coast of Newfoundland on August 3, 1583. He claimed the area on August 5, 1583. At the ceremony fishermen present on the site gathered together. They cut turf and a rod from the area and presented them to Gilbert, thus symbolically transferring ownership to him.

Gilbert spent a few days exploring the area in a small ship called the Squirrel. His men found iron ore and an ore thought to be silver. After sending some of the men back to England, Gilbert embarked on an expedition on the Squirrel and another ship called the Delight. The Delight, which was the bigger ship, had most of the supplies. It became grounded and broke up on some rocks. About 100 men died in the shipwreck.

Now short on supplies, Gilbert decided to return to England in the last two ships, the Squirrel and the Golden Hind. Gilbert insisted on sailing in the Squirrel, even after the captain of the Hind implored to travel on the larger ship. The first days of the voyage saw good weather and smooth sailing. However a storm blew up, creating rough seas.

The crew of the Hind heard what would be Gilbert’s last words, “We are as near to Heaven by sea as by land!” After crying out the words, he raised his hand to the sky, indicating the leaden gray sky and turbulent wind.

The Squirrel disappeared into the storm shortly after and Gilbert disappears into the mists of history.

The next episode will cover tell the story of Sir Walter Raleigh’s Roanoke Colony. The articles in the book contain much more detail about the topics discussed. Additionally, there are other topics not included in the podcast. I encourage you to subscribe to both my web site, mossyfeetbooks.com and this You Tube channel.
I hope you enjoyed this podcast and thank you for listening.