John Brereton
Encyclopedia
John Brereton was a gentleman
adventurer and chronicle
r of the 1602 voyage to the New World
led by Bartholomew Gosnold
.
Brereton recorded the first European exploration of Cape Cod
and its environs. His account, published in 1602, helped promote the possibilities of English colonization
in what was then known as "the North part of Virginia" and would later become known as New England
.
have identified John Brereton as a clergy
man who was born and lived in East Anglia
. The son of Cuthbert Brereton, a sheriff of Norwich
, he was born around 1571/72 and was educated at Norwich School
, before being admitted as a pensioner at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge aged seventeen on 17 January 1589. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in 1593, and proceeded to Master of Arts by seniority in 1596. He took holy orders, being ordained deacon
priest
by the Bishop of Norwich
and in 1598 was appointed curate
of Lawshall
, Suffolk
.
It was probably through this appointment in Suffolk that Brereton came into contact with Gosnold, who lived nearby, and also with the notable Elizabethan author, Richard Hakluyt
, who had published numerous accounts of travels and voyages of discovery, especially in America.
With Gosnold, Brereton undertook a voyage to Virginia, as it then was. On his return to England and after the publication of his account, he appears to have lived a quiet life in holy orders, becoming Rector
of Brightwell
, Suffolk, in 1619, and probably he is the same man who became Rector of St Peter Mancroft
in Norwich and who died in 1632.
, Gabriel Archer, and others to make the first English attempt to settle in the land since called New England. Twenty-four gentlemen and eight sailors left Falmouth
in a small Dartmouth
bark, the Concord, on 26 March 1602, twelve of the gentlemen intending to settle, while twelve others were to return home with the produce of the land and of their trading with the natives.
Instead of making the circuitous route by the Canary Islands
, Gosnold steered, as the winds permitted, due west, only southing towards the Azores
, and was the first to accomplish a direct course to America, saving the better part of a thousand leagues. By 15 May the voyagers made the headland which they named Cape Cod. Here Gosnold, Brereton, and two others went ashore on the white sands, the first spot in New England ever trodden by English feet. Doubling the Cape and passing Nantucket, they touched at Martha's Vineyard
, and passing round Dover Cliff entered Buzzard's Bay, which they called Gosnold's Hope, reached the island of Cuttyhunk
, which they named Elizabeth's Island.
Here they determined to settle; in nineteen days they built a fort and storehouse in an islet in the centre of a lake of three miles compass, and began to trade with the natives in furs, skins, and the sassafras
plant. They sowed wheat, barley, and peas, and in fourteen days the young plants had sprung nine inches and more. The country was fruitful in the extreme. It was decided, however, that so small a company would be useless for colonisation; their provisions, after division, would have lasted only six weeks. The whole company therefore sailed for England, making a very short voyage of five weeks, and landed at Exmouth
on 23 July. Their freight realised a great profit, the sassafras alone selling for £336 a ton.
the planting in these parts.
Brereton's well-written and concise account was designed to promote the possibilities of colonisation of New England. There were no fewer than twenty three Atlantic crossings in nine separate voyages by one or two ships over the next six years.
Captain John Smith, in his Adventures and Discourses, speaks of Master John Brereton and his account of his voyage as fairly turning his brains, and impelling him to cast in his lot with Gosnold and Wingfield, and make that subsequent voyage which resulted in the planting and colonisation of Virginia
in 1607.
Gentleman
The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
adventurer and chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
r of the 1602 voyage to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
led by Bartholomew Gosnold
Bartholomew Gosnold
Bartholomew Gosnold was an English lawyer, explorer, and privateer, instrumental in founding the Virginia Company of London, and Jamestown, Virginia, United States...
.
Brereton recorded the first European exploration of Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
and its environs. His account, published in 1602, helped promote the possibilities of English colonization
English colonial empire
The English colonial empire consisted of a variety of overseas territories colonized, conquered, or otherwise acquired by the former Kingdom of England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries....
in what was then known as "the North part of Virginia" and would later become known as New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
.
Life
Twentieth century historians such as Gookin and QuinnDavid Beers Quinn
David Beers Quinn was an Irish historian who wrote extensively on the voyages of discovery and colonisation of America. Many of his publications appeared as volumes of the Hakluyt Society...
have identified John Brereton as a clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
man who was born and lived in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
. The son of Cuthbert Brereton, a sheriff of Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, he was born around 1571/72 and was educated at Norwich School
Norwich School (educational institution)
Norwich School is an independent school located in Norwich, United Kingdom. It is one of the oldest schools in the world, with a traceable history to 1096, and is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.It is a fee-paying, co-educational day school and has one of the best...
, before being admitted as a pensioner at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge aged seventeen on 17 January 1589. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in 1593, and proceeded to Master of Arts by seniority in 1596. He took holy orders, being ordained deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
by the Bishop of Norwich
Bishop of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers most of the County of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The see is in the City of Norwich where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided...
and in 1598 was appointed curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of Lawshall
Lawshall
Lawshall is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located around a mile off the A134 between Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury, it is part of Babergh district.-Background:...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
.
It was probably through this appointment in Suffolk that Brereton came into contact with Gosnold, who lived nearby, and also with the notable Elizabethan author, Richard Hakluyt
Richard Hakluyt
Richard Hakluyt was an English writer. He is principally remembered for his efforts in promoting and supporting the settlement of North America by the English through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America and The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and...
, who had published numerous accounts of travels and voyages of discovery, especially in America.
With Gosnold, Brereton undertook a voyage to Virginia, as it then was. On his return to England and after the publication of his account, he appears to have lived a quiet life in holy orders, becoming Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Brightwell
Brightwell
Brightwell may refer to:*Brightwell, Suffolk*Brightwell Baldwin in Oxfordshire*Brightwell-cum-Sotwell in Oxfordshire...
, Suffolk, in 1619, and probably he is the same man who became Rector of St Peter Mancroft
St Peter Mancroft
St Peter Mancroft is a parish church in the Church of England, in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. It is the largest church in Norwich and was built between 1430 and 1455. It stands on a slightly elevated position, next to the market place...
in Norwich and who died in 1632.
The voyage and exploration of New England
Brereton joined Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, Bartholomew GilbertBartholomew Gilbert
Captain Bartholomew Gilbert was an English mariner who in 1602 served as co-captain on the first recorded European expedition to Cape Cod. His decisions resulted in that expedition's failure to establish a colony there.-Voyage to Cape Cod:...
, Gabriel Archer, and others to make the first English attempt to settle in the land since called New England. Twenty-four gentlemen and eight sailors left Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....
in a small Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
bark, the Concord, on 26 March 1602, twelve of the gentlemen intending to settle, while twelve others were to return home with the produce of the land and of their trading with the natives.
Instead of making the circuitous route by the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, Gosnold steered, as the winds permitted, due west, only southing towards the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
, and was the first to accomplish a direct course to America, saving the better part of a thousand leagues. By 15 May the voyagers made the headland which they named Cape Cod. Here Gosnold, Brereton, and two others went ashore on the white sands, the first spot in New England ever trodden by English feet. Doubling the Cape and passing Nantucket, they touched at Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
, and passing round Dover Cliff entered Buzzard's Bay, which they called Gosnold's Hope, reached the island of Cuttyhunk
Cuttyhunk
Cuttyhunk Island is the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. It was the first site of English settlement in New England. It is located between Buzzards Bay to the north and Vineyard Sound to the south...
, which they named Elizabeth's Island.
Sassafras
Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.-Overview:...
plant. They sowed wheat, barley, and peas, and in fourteen days the young plants had sprung nine inches and more. The country was fruitful in the extreme. It was decided, however, that so small a company would be useless for colonisation; their provisions, after division, would have lasted only six weeks. The whole company therefore sailed for England, making a very short voyage of five weeks, and landed at Exmouth
Exmouth, Devon
Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort in East Devon, England, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe. In 2001, it had a population of 32,972.-History:...
on 23 July. Their freight realised a great profit, the sassafras alone selling for £336 a ton.
The published account
Brereton wrote A Briefe Relation of the Description of Elizabeth's Ile, and some others towards the North Part of Virginie, written by John Brierton, one of the Voyage, which was published in London in 1602. A second impression was published the same year entitled A brief and true Relation of the Discovery of the North Part of Virginia, written by John Brereton, one of the Voyage. To this edition is added A Treatise of M. Edward Hayes, containing important inducements forthe planting in these parts.
Brereton's well-written and concise account was designed to promote the possibilities of colonisation of New England. There were no fewer than twenty three Atlantic crossings in nine separate voyages by one or two ships over the next six years.
Captain John Smith, in his Adventures and Discourses, speaks of Master John Brereton and his account of his voyage as fairly turning his brains, and impelling him to cast in his lot with Gosnold and Wingfield, and make that subsequent voyage which resulted in the planting and colonisation of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in 1607.