VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
of the expedition sent out under the second
charter, which left Falmouth June 8, 1609.
There were nine ships carrying Sir Thomas
Gates as governor, and about 500 persons,
some of them women. Two of the vessels
were wrecked and Newport himself was cast
away on the Bermudas with Gov. Gates and
150 other passengers and a large portion of
the stores for the colony. He finally got away
from the islands, and made his way to \'ir-
ginia just in time to save the colony from
starvation. The casting away of Newport's
ship, the "Sea X'enture." was the occasion of
Shakespeare's great play, "The Tempest," in-
terest in the subject having most probably
been communicated to him by Southampton.
After one more voyage to X'irginia, Capt.
Newport's connection with the colony ceased.
He resigned his position with the X'irginia
Company and was appointed one of the six
masters of the Royal Navy, and performed
several voyages for the East India Company.
On the third of these his death occurred about
August 15, 1617, while his fleet lay at anchor in
a Javan port. The stalwart captain died thus
as he had lived, in command of his ship, in
the midst of new lands and untried seas.
Wingfield, Edward Maria, first president of the council (q. v.).
Largely instrumental in bringing about the successful exi)edition of 1607, was
Gosnold, Bartholomew, a seasoned mariner who had been associated with Raleigh in his attempts to colonize Virginia, and not less was he the leaven of peace among the discordant elements in the first Jamestown council, of which he was a member. Respected by all the diverse factions as no one else was, he was able to effect something like a concert of pur- pose and action among his fellows, and stave
off, in a measure, the dissensions which broke
out so violently after his death. Upon the
failure of Raleigh's expeditions, Gosnold had
returned to England still hopeful, and in 1602
he took command of a vessel fitted out by the
Earl of Southampton, the friend and patron of
Shakespeare. Gosnold's intended destination
uas \'irginia, but. the ship being driven from
her course by adverse winds, they touched
upon the New England coast, where they were
the first Englishmen to land and where they
named Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard.
Those who had proposed remaining as colo-
nists lost heart, however, and returned to
England, but Gosnold, undisheartened, con-
tinued his efforts and finally beheld his hopes*
fruition in Jamestown. His voice, indeed,
was raised against the site chosen, on the
ground of its obvious unhealthfulness, but,
being overruled, he turned to with heart and
soul to give success to the enterprise. He was
spared the pain of beholding the pains and
horrors the colony was doomed to undergo,
his death occurring before the close of the
first summer, Aug. 22, 1607, when fate seemed
still auspicious. All record unite in praising
his singleness of purpose and hardihood, and
Pres. Wingfield made him his sole confidant
in matters of importance such as that of the
diminishing supplies. It is possible, there-
fore, that, while it may have been a personal
good fortune to have escaped the misfortunes
of his fellows he might, had he lived, have done
much to alleviate their sorrows by uniting
them in a more harmonious eff'ort.
Smith, John, councillor and president of the council ( q. v.).
Ratcliffe, John, councillor and president of the council (q. v.).
