Ralph Hamor
Encyclopedia
Captain Ralph Hamor was one of the original colonist to settle Virginia
, and author of "A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia" when he returned to London
in 1615.
In 1609, as member of the London Company
, Hamor, along with his father, joined the Second Charter of Virginia as a captain of one of the vessels to sail to the new world
as part of the large investment of settling a new colony in Virginia. Funded by the Earls of Salisbury, Suffolk, Southampton, Pembroke, and others, five hundred persons set sail for what will be known as Jamestown
.
Upon the latter end of May, 1609, a fleet of nine ships, with the five hundred persons, lead by the admiral ship the "Sea-Venture" commanded by the three commissions of Captain Christopher Newport, Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers, set sail for Jamestown. But, as the fleet passed Bermuda
on July 25, the tail end of a hurricane caught the flag ship carrying 150 passengers, stranding it on the island and sinking one of the other smaller vessels. Captain Ralph Hamor's ship, along with the other six ships commanded by Captains; Ratcliffe, Martin, Wood, Webbe, Moon, King and Davies arrived in Virginia safe.
In the Fall of 1609, Hamor set sail back to London, only to return the following Spring. On April 9, 1610, Captain Hamor escorted Lord Delaware and about one hundred new settlers including "Frenchmen to plant vines, and Swiss to find mines," aboard the "De La Warr", along with two other ships, the "Blessing of Plymouth" and the "Hercules of Rye", back to Virginia. The three ships arrived safely in Jamestown on Sunday, June 20, 1610.
On June 22, 1610, Hamor was named Secretary of the Colony by Lord Delaware, and served from 1611 to 1614, as he well documented the Colonies' accounts. In 1611 Hamor and Thomas Savage visited the Native American village of Matchcot, to sit with Chief Powhatan
father of the legend Pocahontas
. Ralph Hamor forgot to ware the pearl necklace to signify his status as a representative of his government, but told the chief that Sir Thomas Dale
wants to marry one of his daughters.
In 1615, he returned to London to publish their stories in the; "A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia". In his tales, he talks about Pocahontas as the most beloved child of her father, as his "delight and darling," according to Ralph Hamor.
He returned to Virginia
on November 28, 1616, and was named Vice-Admiral to Admiral Samuel Argall
.
On January 18, 1617, Hamor was awarded eight shares of the Virginia Company and was put in charge of 16 men.
By Summer of 1621, some local Indian tribes became increasingly hostile towards the colonist. Hamor wrote in a letter to the Council after the attack on the Flowerieu Hundred plantation; "So sudden in their cruel execution, that few or none discerned the weapon or blow that brought them to destruction." That evening, Captain Hamor then took his ship and a Pinnace
to try to save and collect the wounded from the different Plantations. On June 27, Hamor reached an agreement with the King of the Potomac Indians against the Opechancanough and Necochincos tribes, "Their and our enemy." Mid July Captain Newport was killed in an attack.
As Council member, Hamor was granted land from the Virginia Company
in June of 1621, upon which he began to establish his own plantation
. And, on November 28, 1621, the new Governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, appointed Ralph Hamor to the King's Council.
One of Captain Hamor's official duties as Council member was to insure that Lady Cecily Delaware was satisfied with the cultivation of her assigned Virginian land.
In February, 1622, Captain Ralph Hamor returned from England to Virginia as the command of the "Sea Flower" with 120 new settlers, of which were two servants of Hamor's; Thomas Powell and Elkinton Ratliffe, both to work on Hog Island.
On Friday, March 22, 1622, Hamor, his older brother Thomas, and six of their male 'servants' were attacked by the Indians as they were building Hamor's new house in Warrosquyoake Shire
. Inside the new homes were large groups of women and children. They were able to drive off the renegades with bricks, spades, and anything else they could get their hands on. Of the roughly twelve hundred Jamestown residents, 347 were killed that day. Thomas was wounded with an arrow to the back during the attack, and his cousin Nathaniel Powell was killed.
After the attack, Hamor was ordered to escort the surviving Warrosquyoake Shire settlers to the safety of Jamestown Island, then to stand as command of the Martin's Hundred
settlers who were also brought up to Jamestown. Once thing settled down, Hamor found himself in a land dispute with one of the biggest plantation owners in Virginia, Edward Bennett
. Also, over the next few month, in the Summer of 1622, Hamor embarked on a few trade expeditions, as well as a few retaliatory raids against the Native Americans.
By the Summer of 1622, the Colony was struggling with keeping up the food supplies, so in early the Council ordered several ships to travel far up the Chesapeake Bay
to trade with the other tribes for food, and if diplomacy failed, use force. Captain Eden commanded the "Furtherance" while Captain Hamor commanded the "Tiger" up the bay. These efforts brought back 4,000 lbs of critically needed corn.
With little food set aside for Winter, the ship "Abigail" arrived in December, with what should have been food, but was loaded instead with armor and gunpowder. This ship also was loaded with sick passengers, as all were allowed to come ashore. By the Spring of 1623, another 500 colonist died from illness, malnutrition, and more sporadic Indian attacks.
of the condition of the Colony.
During the Spring of 1624, Ralph Hamor became involved in another land dispute, this time with Ralph Evers, over cleared land on Hog Island
. Evers was eventually allowed the rights to the land, and Hamor was given 200-acres along with funds compensating him for the building he erected on the property.
On August 14, 1624, Hamor acquired a home on a one and one half acre (1.5 acre) lot. He resided there with his wife, Elizabeth, and two of her children, Jeremiah II and Elizabeth Clements. According the 1624 Census
of Hog Island
, Hamor had a total of seven servants. Six of those servants, Jeoffrey Hull, Mordecay Knight, Thomas Doleman, Elkinton Ratcliffe, Thomas Powell, and John Davies, lived with them.
By 1625, Hamor had acquired 250 acres on Hog Island, and another 500 acres at Blue Point, all the while staying very active in the legal matters of the Jamestown colony, including; land disputes, public blasphemy hearings, illegal alcohol sales, even the authorization of the arrest of the town's gunsmith
John Jefferson, who eloped with his maidservant.
Captain Hamor died around October 11, 1626. Just after his death, Elizabeth remarried Captain Tobias Felgate in early February, 1627, but she died just two years later back in England
, in 1629.
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...
, and author of "A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia" when he returned to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1615.
Early Years
Captain Ralph Hamor was the second son of Ralph Hamor and Mabell (Loveland) Hamor of London.In 1609, as member of the London Company
London Company
The London Company was an English joint stock company established by royal charter by James I of England on April 10, 1606 with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.The territory granted to the London Company included the coast of North America from the 34th parallel ...
, Hamor, along with his father, joined the Second Charter of Virginia as a captain of one of the vessels to sail 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...
as part of the large investment of settling a new colony in Virginia. Funded by the Earls of Salisbury, Suffolk, Southampton, Pembroke, and others, five hundred persons set sail for what will be known as Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
.
Upon the latter end of May, 1609, a fleet of nine ships, with the five hundred persons, lead by the admiral ship the "Sea-Venture" commanded by the three commissions of Captain Christopher Newport, Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers, set sail for Jamestown. But, as the fleet passed Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
on July 25, the tail end of a hurricane caught the flag ship carrying 150 passengers, stranding it on the island and sinking one of the other smaller vessels. Captain Ralph Hamor's ship, along with the other six ships commanded by Captains; Ratcliffe, Martin, Wood, Webbe, Moon, King and Davies arrived in Virginia safe.
In the Fall of 1609, Hamor set sail back to London, only to return the following Spring. On April 9, 1610, Captain Hamor escorted Lord Delaware and about one hundred new settlers including "Frenchmen to plant vines, and Swiss to find mines," aboard the "De La Warr", along with two other ships, the "Blessing of Plymouth" and the "Hercules of Rye", back to Virginia. The three ships arrived safely in Jamestown on Sunday, June 20, 1610.
On June 22, 1610, Hamor was named Secretary of the Colony by Lord Delaware, and served from 1611 to 1614, as he well documented the Colonies' accounts. In 1611 Hamor and Thomas Savage visited the Native American village of Matchcot, to sit with Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan , whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh , was the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia at the time English settlers landed at Jamestown in 1607...
father of the legend Pocahontas
Pocahontas
Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
. Ralph Hamor forgot to ware the pearl necklace to signify his status as a representative of his government, but told the chief that Sir Thomas Dale
Thomas Dale
Sir Thomas Dale was an English naval commander and deputy-governor of the Virginia Colony in 1611 and from 1614 to 1616. Governor Dale is best remembered for the energy and the extreme rigour of his administration in Virginia, which established order and in various ways seems to have benefited the...
wants to marry one of his daughters.
In 1615, he returned to London to publish their stories in the; "A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia". In his tales, he talks about Pocahontas as the most beloved child of her father, as his "delight and darling," according to Ralph Hamor.
He returned to 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...
on November 28, 1616, and was named Vice-Admiral to Admiral Samuel Argall
Samuel Argall
Sir Samuel Argall was an English adventurer and naval officer.As a sea captain, in 1609, Argall was the first to determine a shorter northern route from England across the Atlantic Ocean to the new English colony of Virginia, based at Jamestown, and made numerous voyages to the New World...
.
On January 18, 1617, Hamor was awarded eight shares of the Virginia Company and was put in charge of 16 men.
By Summer of 1621, some local Indian tribes became increasingly hostile towards the colonist. Hamor wrote in a letter to the Council after the attack on the Flowerieu Hundred plantation; "So sudden in their cruel execution, that few or none discerned the weapon or blow that brought them to destruction." That evening, Captain Hamor then took his ship and a Pinnace
Pinnace (ship's boat)
As a ship's boat the pinnace is a light boat, propelled by sails or oars, formerly used as a "tender" for guiding merchant and war vessels. In modern parlance, pinnace has come to mean a boat associated with some kind of larger vessel, that doesn't fit under the launch or lifeboat definitions...
to try to save and collect the wounded from the different Plantations. On June 27, Hamor reached an agreement with the King of the Potomac Indians against the Opechancanough and Necochincos tribes, "Their and our enemy." Mid July Captain Newport was killed in an attack.
As Council member, Hamor was granted land from the Virginia Company
Virginia Company
The Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
in June of 1621, upon which he began to establish his own plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
. And, on November 28, 1621, the new Governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, appointed Ralph Hamor to the King's Council.
One of Captain Hamor's official duties as Council member was to insure that Lady Cecily Delaware was satisfied with the cultivation of her assigned Virginian land.
In February, 1622, Captain Ralph Hamor returned from England to Virginia as the command of the "Sea Flower" with 120 new settlers, of which were two servants of Hamor's; Thomas Powell and Elkinton Ratliffe, both to work on Hog Island.
Indian Massacre of 1622
Warrosquyoake Shire
Warrosquoake Shire was officially formed in 1634 in the Virginia colony, but had already been known as "Warascoyack County" before this...
. Inside the new homes were large groups of women and children. They were able to drive off the renegades with bricks, spades, and anything else they could get their hands on. Of the roughly twelve hundred Jamestown residents, 347 were killed that day. Thomas was wounded with an arrow to the back during the attack, and his cousin Nathaniel Powell was killed.
After the attack, Hamor was ordered to escort the surviving Warrosquyoake Shire settlers to the safety of Jamestown Island, then to stand as command of the Martin's Hundred
Martin's Hundred
Martin's Hundred was an early 17th century plantation located along about ten miles of the north shore of the James River in the Virginia Colony east of Jamestown in the southeastern portion of present-day James City County, Virginia...
settlers who were also brought up to Jamestown. Once thing settled down, Hamor found himself in a land dispute with one of the biggest plantation owners in Virginia, Edward Bennett
Edward Bennett (colonist)
Edward Bennett , was a London merchant that established the first large plantation in the United States, which was responsible for the migration of over 800 immigrants to the new world.-Early years:...
. Also, over the next few month, in the Summer of 1622, Hamor embarked on a few trade expeditions, as well as a few retaliatory raids against the Native Americans.
By the Summer of 1622, the Colony was struggling with keeping up the food supplies, so in early the Council ordered several ships to travel far up the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
to trade with the other tribes for food, and if diplomacy failed, use force. Captain Eden commanded the "Furtherance" while Captain Hamor commanded the "Tiger" up the bay. These efforts brought back 4,000 lbs of critically needed corn.
With little food set aside for Winter, the ship "Abigail" arrived in December, with what should have been food, but was loaded instead with armor and gunpowder. This ship also was loaded with sick passengers, as all were allowed to come ashore. By the Spring of 1623, another 500 colonist died from illness, malnutrition, and more sporadic Indian attacks.
Later Years
On June 11, 1623, Ralph's brother Thomas Hamor died of a burning fever, as reported by surgeon Samuel Mole, leaving him the rights to Thomas' land. In that same year, Ralph married Elizabeth Fuller, born in 1579. Elizabeth was the widow of Jeffrey Clements. Elizabeth had seven children from her previous marriage, all born between 1601 and 1609 in Clarkenwell, England. And in October of that same year, he gave a formal update to the Virginia CompanyVirginia Company
The Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
of the condition of the Colony.
During the Spring of 1624, Ralph Hamor became involved in another land dispute, this time with Ralph Evers, over cleared land on Hog Island
Hog Island (Virginia)
Hog Island is a barrier island located in Northampton County, Virginia, and is a part of the Virginia Coast Reserve of The Nature Conservancy. Starting in the mid-19th century the town of Broadwater, Virginia was located on the southern end of the island, but had to be abandoned in the 1930s when...
. Evers was eventually allowed the rights to the land, and Hamor was given 200-acres along with funds compensating him for the building he erected on the property.
On August 14, 1624, Hamor acquired a home on a one and one half acre (1.5 acre) lot. He resided there with his wife, Elizabeth, and two of her children, Jeremiah II and Elizabeth Clements. According the 1624 Census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of Hog Island
Hog Island (Virginia)
Hog Island is a barrier island located in Northampton County, Virginia, and is a part of the Virginia Coast Reserve of The Nature Conservancy. Starting in the mid-19th century the town of Broadwater, Virginia was located on the southern end of the island, but had to be abandoned in the 1930s when...
, Hamor had a total of seven servants. Six of those servants, Jeoffrey Hull, Mordecay Knight, Thomas Doleman, Elkinton Ratcliffe, Thomas Powell, and John Davies, lived with them.
By 1625, Hamor had acquired 250 acres on Hog Island, and another 500 acres at Blue Point, all the while staying very active in the legal matters of the Jamestown colony, including; land disputes, public blasphemy hearings, illegal alcohol sales, even the authorization of the arrest of the town's gunsmith
Gunsmith
A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...
John Jefferson, who eloped with his maidservant.
Captain Hamor died around October 11, 1626. Just after his death, Elizabeth remarried Captain Tobias Felgate in early February, 1627, but she died just two years later back in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1629.