Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Elizabeth's racketeer

New York: Harper & Brothers (1932), illus., maps, portraits, vii, 204 pp.

by

Donald Barr Chidsey

Prepared by Michael Steer

Sir Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539-1583) was a half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh (they had the same mother, Catherine Champernowne), and cousin of Sir Richard Grenville. Adventurer, explorer, Member of Parliament, and soldier, he served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth and was a pioneer of the English colonial empire in North America and the Plantations of Ireland. Gilbert is said to have believed that America was the lost continent of Atlantis. He was determined to find a sea route through the northern waters of North America. On September 23, 1578, he sailed from England, but was attacked by Spaniards and returned to England. He successfully sailed again on June 11, 1583, with five ships. One ship had to return because of leaks, but the others eventually made it to North America. He landed in Newfoundland on July 30, 1583, and then sailed to St. John's. Gilbert claimed the area for Queen Elizabeth I of England, and started a colony. After two weeks in his new colony, he left it to explore the area around Nova Scotia. He died on this expedition when his boat, the "Squirrel," sank near the Azore Islands on September 9, 1583 (he was returning to England). This rare and much sought-after book was produced digitally by Google from a copy in the University of Wisconsin Library collection and can be downloaded from HathiTrust. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

Bibliography, p. 196

General Index, p. 199