Willoughby

JOHN SMITH - A Lincolnshire Farmer's Son.

John Smith was born in Willoughby near Alford in Lincolnshire on January 9th 1580. He was the first born of George and Alice Smith, a Yeoman Farmer who farmed some 300 acres in and around the parish, being the tenant of the Lord Willoughby de Eresby. That second Saturday in January then, the newborn Smith was baptized. George Smith, to judge by his will, had always been a shy and retiring man. Perhaps he expected his Son to take after him, since he metaphorically buried him at birth under the most anonymous of English names. If so, his shade wandering about in the great beyond, must soon have been greatly distressed. For, from a John Smith who could be anybody - almost - the John Smith who was baptized on January 9th 1580, became a legend. Distinguished by the common title of Captain, he lived to become one of the famed men of English and American History. His early schooling was at Alford, a journey of some 3 miles across the fat and marshy land of Eastern Lincolnshire. No doubt on his way there and back, idly daydreaming of the tales and gossip around his ears, of the terror of the Spanish Armada, and Sir Francis Drake, and that valiant warrior Lord Willoughby de Eresby, whose tenant farmer his father was, sent by Elizabeth of England, with a small Army, to support Henry to become the King of France.

So it was then, that at the age of 13 he attempted to run away, and to make his bid for adventure, but was brought back by his father, who sent him for further schooling in Louth. Then, at the age of 15 young John was apprenticed to a Merchant, Thomas Sendall of Kings Lynn, some 60 miles away. Sendall was known to Lord Willoughby, and perhaps recommended by him, and perhaps John's father thought that, in this way, the restless young man could in time get a post as an overseas agent or factor, and make money, and perhaps a name for himself besides. But John's temperament was not suited to the drudgery of a countinghouse, and no doubt he would soon have sailed away on a Merchant ship had he not been recalled back to Willoughby to attend the burial of his father on April 13th 1596.

His fathers death left John with some means, which were indirectly augmented in less than a year by the re-marriage of his mother. According to the official inventory of the Estate made of February 19th 1597 George Smith's 'Goods and Chattels' were valued at £77 16 2d and by virtue of the will as probated John Smith became a tenant of Lord Willoughby, under the guardianship of George Metham, a connection of Lord Willoughby.

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It would appear however, from Smith's own writings, that Metham was more interested in guarding his estate than his person, and on John's insistence his apprenticeship was terminated and he never saw his master in eight years after. John now had the liberty to do as he pleased and to get beyond the sea, and so it was that he was placed under Joseph Duxbury, a Captain, who had served under Sir Francis Vere, a first cousin of Lady Mary Willoughby. He served under the colours of Captain Duxbury for 3 years in the Low Countries, before returning to England, whereupon he was requested to attend as a servant to Master Peregrine Bertie, the second son of Lord Willoughby, on his journey into France to complete his nobleman's education. Once in France, Master Peregrine met up with his older brother Robert, and soon, as is the case of sons, they were short of funds. Smith, not experienced enough to be of much help to the brothers, was sent by them back to England along with detailed personal messages concerning their doings in France, and in recompence for the trouble caused him, supplied John with a little money for the trip. His journey through Orleans took him through Paris where he took it upon himself to look up the Hume family, friends of Lord Willoughby. In due course he arrived back in his native village, in all probability the most travelled member of the community outside the family of the Lord of the Manor himself. Lord Willoughby hearing of his adventures, and hopes of further travel, encouraged John's study of things martial and gentlemanly, and on John's request gave him permission to camp on one of the Willoughby estates, and to hunt there. He had a horse with him in his little woody pasture, and he acquired some local swain to be his 'Man', not only for hunting and companionship but (which was even more important) to help him play-act his envisioned future role as a gentlemen - adventurer, a Knight to serve his Squire. He received expert tuition on horsemanship from the Riding Master to Henry Clinton, Earl of Tattershall Castle, one of the most disagreeable Nobleman in all England, and it is doubtful if he would have permitted such tuition if his distinguished friend Willoughby had not requested it.

The Rider's name was Theodore Paleolougue, an Italian by birth, and contact with him brought Smith some knowledge of Italian, and even more of those legendary monsters, the Ottoman Turks.

So it was then, that the age of 20 Smith again set out on his travels across France where he met up briefly with the brothers Robert and Peregrine, then on a tour of the Mediterranean on a Merchant ship, delivering their freight to Alexandria. On the way back to Italy, they fell foul of an argosy from Venice. The Captain of Smith's ship, La Roche, soon put paid to the argosy with his cannon and chase guns, then boarded and rifled her. Back in their home port, Smith's share of the bounty was 500 zecchine, and he decided there and then to travel like a gentleman and educate himself thereby, like a gentleman. With 500 Zecchine he could do this for up to 5 years depending on the style he lived. He decided however, late in 1600 to join the Austrian forces then engaged in the 'Long War' against the Turks. Promoted to Captain for his services in Hungary, in the spring of 1602 Smith was sent to Transylvania (now North Western Romania). There, during a siege he accepted challenges to single combat that resulted in his be-heading three Turkish officers. Theodore Paleologue's training had not been in vain. Up to that time, Smith's shield had been polished plain, but now in recognition of his three duels in accordance with the laws of single combat, Zsigmond Bathory, Prince of Transylvania, authorised Captain John Smith to design and impress upon his shield three Turks Heads in token of his feat. And he named John Smith an English Gentleman.

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Many battles and skirmishes ensued over the next few months until the inevitable happened - the Christians were overwhelmed by a mighty Army of Tartars and Mongols. Smith was wounded, but his captors, perceiving his armour and habit realized that his ransom might be worth more than his death. His wounds cured, he reached Axiopolis, a hundred miles due east of Bucharest, where he was sold for a slave, and then soon found himself in Istanbul. Smith, however, did not wish to undergo the Turkish discipline and escaped by murdering his master, dressing in his clothes, and riding his horse away. His route took him North through Russia, and west to Poland and on to Transylvania. Finding that country in different hands, he headed South, through Spain, Portugal and across to Morocco. When he finally arrived back in England in December 1604 he still had a thousand ducats in his purse to remind him that Farmer John Smith was no more. He was Captain - of - Horse John Smith, with three Turks heads on his shield.

His apprenticeship under the hard master Experience, ended on his return from Europe in his 24th year. A new Lodestar was faintly twinkling for him over England. Its name - VIRGINIA.

Sir Walter Raleigh first attempted to found Roanoke Island colony (todays N. Carolina) in 1585 - 87 but gave the area the name Virginia, after and with the permission of, the Virgin Queen Elizabeth the 1st, but on an expedition further north, the colony was wiped out by Indians, and Sir Walter returned to England. Back in London Smith became caught up in the plans to colonize Virginia, A Royal Charter, licencing such activities was signed on April 10th 1606 and the Virginia Company was formed. On December 19th three ships, SUSAN CONSTANT, under Capt. Newport, GODSPEED under Capt. Gosnold and DISCOVERY under Capt.Ratcliffe, with Captain Smith amongst the colonists, set sail from Blackwall on an expedition that was to change the course of history - the colonizing venture which planted at Jamestown the first permanent British Colony in the New World. Two weeks, and only 75 miles out of London the three ships wallowed unhappily in the wind swept North Sea, anchored off the Downs off the East coast of Kent, until at last in early February the three ships were freed from the unprosperous winds, and got away from their hateful anchorage.

Land was sighted on 26th April and the ships entered Chesapeak Bay the next day. That night, with great solemnity, no doubt, the three sealed boxes, with their identical documents, containing King John's Royal Charter, were brought out and duly opened and the names of those appointed by the Council in London, to sit on the Council in Virginia were read. They were Bartholomew Gosnold, Edward Wingfield, Christopher Newport, John Smith, John Ratcliffe, John Martin and George Kendall. These seven men were commanded by the Royal document of November 20th 1606 to choose one of the same Council to be President and govern for 12 months. Wingfield was chosen to serve the first term. For the next two weeks time was spent in exploration of the James River, of discovering what is now Old Point Comfort and the Indian village of Kecoughtan, and finally searching for a place suitable for their plantation. They travelled some 80 miles upstream then down again some 40 miles before spotting an almost rectangular low lying peninsula, two miles long by 1 mile broad, attached to the mainland by a narrow sand bar, with a deep channel nearby. This, for Wingfield, decided the issue. The ships could tie up in six fathoms of water, close to the trees, which would facilitate unloading. The next day May 13th 1607 the colonists started unloading, and shortly afterwards, after some discussion, the embryonic colony was named Jamestown.

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Possibly some 300 years before however, Algonkian Indians had pushed down from the North into the area, and were just then expanding into a tidewater Virginian Empire. The unwelcome English colony was by turns resisted, ambushed, raided and cajoled in the hope that it would go away. However, Capt. Smith set out with a small party to explore upriver and trade with the natives. They came upon many settlements of Indians, mostly friendly, who were eager to trade their furs and fresh meat for trinkets. Each tribe had its chief Smith learned, but there was a far greater chieftain who commanded all, the Great Chief Powhatan, of American legend. Meanwhile back at the colony, clapboard was cut for the return journey cargo and on 22nd June Capt. Newport departed from Jamestown for England. Smith and a small party kept foraging for food, but lack of this, subtropical heat and inactivity, abetted by the typhoid bacillus, began to take their toll. Most of the colonists were not used to tilling land, building shelter or the like, and lack of leadership brought general dissent. By September approx. 40 people were still alive out of the original 104. Capt. Gosnold had died the month before, Smith was also smitten by the disease, but by the end of September the rains came, trade started again with the Indians, and things started to look brighter. But food was still short, and by Mid-December Capt. Smith decided to explore further upriver, and trade further north, as the local Indians were getting harder to strike a deal with. Three days out of Jamestown, landing on a sandy beach with his two companions, Smith was surrounded by about 200 Indians. Realizing it was not trade but him they wanted, he remonstrated with them verbally, then offered them beads and trinkets, but eventually his futile efforts came to nothing and he was marched into the forest. Four days of marching brought them to a large village and Smith saw that here lived someone special - the Great Supreme Chief Powhatan. He was cleaned and bathed, then marched across a clearing to a large round hut. Assembled outside were several minor tribal Chiefs, some of whom he recognized from earlier trading. Then, John Smith, diminutive warrior from the battlefields of Turk and Tartar was admitted to the august presence of the autocrat of Tidewater Virginia. He was, like Cortes nearly a century before, the first of his nation to cast eyes upon the native overload of an American "Empire".

Food and wine were brought in, and Chief Powhatan assured Smith of friendship and freedom. He explained that he knew of the earlier Roanoke settlement, described his many people, and his vast lands. Smith, recognizing Powhatan's pride in his dominions, offered a glowing picture of the territories of Europe and his mighty monarch, whose name was James, King of many realms, who had many ships and whose trumpets led men to war. Eventually he was led to a hut and put under guard. For several days he was not approached. Little did he know, but his life hung in the balance. He could hear the chanting and howling of the priests, and could see through a chink in the wall the abracadabra of ritual dancing round a huge fire. But apparently, Powhatan's daughter, of maybe 11 or 12, named Pocohontas had taken a liking to this bearded little man, who was proud, with defiance in his eyes, but was not one of them. She pleaded with her father to spare him, and her wish was granted. Powhatan told Smith they were now friends, and that in the future he would be as a son to him. Loaded with supplies and gifts he was returned to Jamestown with a bodyguard of 12 of Powhatan's most trusted warriors, and Smith returned gifts back to his new found friend.

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Within two days of Smith's return to the Fort in early January 1608 Capt. Newport returned with eighty more colonists bringing fresh supplies, but these were soon consumed, as being the "Starvation" period, the Indians had no food to trade. Newport again left for England in April, and Smith, realizing the need for self sufficiency, approached the Council who appointed him "Storemaster". He set about organizing working parties, to till the land, cut timber and make their Fort safe from attack, but this did not go down well with the Gentlemen type, who didn't take to kindly to taking orders from this bearded stocky man from the Lincolnshire countryside. He hadn't the overall authority to command them and they fell again into their idle ways. The crops were a disaster, and the Council saw that in Smith, as leader, they might survive. So on September 10th 1608 Captain Smith received the letters patent, and took upon himself the place of President, to Govern for one year. The Fort was strengthened, and the watch reorganised and more efficiently trained. And the entire colony was drilled on Saturdays. The Jamestown colony numbered about 200 as John Smith began his fourth month of Presidency. Food was short, the Indians had little, and he soon made up his mind to disperse the colonists into small groups to fend for themselves. 20 or so he sent to live with a small settlement across the river. Some to form a fishing colony on the point, and some to forage in the woods for wild berries and roots. He made regular visits further and further north, always returning with some supplies to keep them going. Eventually spring returned and he immediately started the clearing of 40 acres of good ground, planting with corn, beans and peas. The chickens and pigs brought over on the last supply ship were now multiplying and things were looking brighter. President Smith called a general assembly, and leaving little unsaid, he berrated those of whom would rather starve in idleness than feast in labour. Therefore, he bluntly went on, quoting from St.Paul "He that will not work, shall not eat" except for the sick. The colony thrived that summer of 1609, and when he gave up his Presidency on Sept 10th Jamestown was destined to survive as the first English colony in America. Two weeks later, a spark ignited his powder pouch, burning him terribly between thigh and groin.

A week later he returned to England on a Supply ship leaving a settlement now numbering some 500 souls.

In London, Smith dedicated himself to promoting Virginia, but his stubborn position on matters of policy stood in his way and he got no further commission from the Virginia Company.

In April 1614 however, Smith obtained support for a voyage to modern Maine and Massachusetts Bay, which, with Prince Charles's approval, he named New England, and also Plymouth. In spite of the success of this voyage, Smith's self-assertiveness once more blocked his proposals. Instead he dedicated himself to writing books and his memoirs. As a writer John Smith apologized for his 'owne rough pen'; yet he left to posterity one of the basic studies of the tidewater Algonkians Indians of the early 17th century; an invaluable if one sided contemporary history of early Virginia; the earliest well defined maps of Chesapeake Bay and the New England coast, and the first dictionary of English Nautical Terms.

The Separatists, better known as the Pilgrim Fathers, having escaped from prison in England because of their religious beliefs, found asylum in the Dutch city of Lieden. They contacted Smith with a view to hiring his services to New England, but instead hired Miles Standish, a captain four years younger, and instead bought his maps and books, and used them to good effect when they eventually set sail in the Mayflower.

Smith lived in and around London till he died on June 21st 1631. He was buried in Holy Sepulcure, Without Newgate Church, London (Which has fine stainglass of John Smith by Francis Skeat, donated be Philip L. Barbour).

Captain John Smith has won distinction and immortality as both a man of action and a man of letters. His works have been invaluable sources for historians, ethnographers and cartographers since Smith's own day. The acknowledged first Governor of Virginia, Admiral of New England. Here is a feat none of the ancient heroes can match.

(Footnote: Although Edward Wingfield was elected President on arrival he did not serve the full term. Other members of the origional council also served but likewise did not complete a full term. Captain John Smith was the first member of the origional council to compete a full term and is therefore acknowledged as the First Governer of Virginia.).

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