William Strachey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Strachey
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| Born | 4 April 1572 Saffron Walden, Essex, England
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| Died | June 1621 (aged 49) |
| Burial place | St Giles' Church, Camberwell |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse(s) | Frances Forster Dorothy (surname unknown) |
| Children | 2 |
| Signature | |
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William Strachey (born 1572, died 1621) was an English writer. His writings are very important for understanding the early days of England's colonies in North America. He is most famous for being an eyewitness to a big shipwreck in 1609. The ship, called the Sea Venture, was sailing to Virginia when a huge hurricane hit it. It crashed on an island called Bermuda, which had no people living on it.
The people who survived spent ten months on the island. They built two smaller ships and finally made it to Virginia. Many experts believe his story about the shipwreck and the Colony of Virginia inspired William Shakespeare's famous play, The Tempest.
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William Strachey's Early Life
William Strachey was born on April 4, 1572, in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. He was the oldest son of William Strachey and Mary Cooke. His family had bought an estate in the 1560s, which is where William grew up.
When he was 16, in 1588, he started studying at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. However, he did not finish his degree there. Later, in 1605, he was at Gray's Inn, which is a place where lawyers train. But it seems he did not become a lawyer.
Strachey's Career and Writings
William Strachey was a writer. He wrote a poem called a sonnet, titled Upon Sejanus. This poem was published in 1605 in a play by Ben Jonson called Sejanus His Fall.
Strachey also lived in London and often went to see plays. He even owned a small part of a theater company called the Children of the Revels. This company used to perform in a converted room in the old Blackfriars monastery. In 1606, Strachey owned a one-sixth share of the Blackfriars Theatre.
He became friends with many famous writers and poets in London. These included Thomas Campion, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and John Marston. Many of them met at a famous place called the Mermaid Tavern.
By 1605, Strachey was having money problems. He spent the rest of his life trying to get out of debt. In 1606, he used a family connection to get a job as a secretary. He worked for Thomas Glover, who was the English ambassador to Turkey. Strachey traveled to Constantinople (now Istanbul) for this job. But he had an argument with the ambassador and lost his job in 1607. He came back to England in 1608.
After this, he decided to try his luck in the New World. In 1609, he bought shares in the Virginia Company. This company was setting up colonies in America. He then sailed to Virginia on the ship Sea Venture.
The Sea Venture Shipwreck
Strachey was a passenger on the main ship of the expedition, the Sea Venture. The ship was hit by a terrible hurricane and was blown off course. It started leaking badly and was about to sink. To save everyone, the ship was run aground (purposely crashed) off the coast of Bermuda. This accident led to England starting to colonize Bermuda.
The group of survivors was stuck on the island for almost a year. During this time, they worked together to build two smaller boats. They used these new boats to finally finish their journey to Virginia.
Strachey wrote a detailed letter on July 15, 1610, about the Sea Venture disaster. He also wrote about the difficult situation of the Jamestown colony. Because his letter was critical of how the colony was being run, the Virginia Company tried to keep it a secret. However, it was later published in 1625 by Samuel Purchas. This report is widely believed to be one of the main sources for Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
Strachey's writings are very important because they are some of the only firsthand accounts of Virginia from that time. He also created a list of words from the Powhatan language. This list is one of only two records of that language that we have today.
Later Life and Death
Strachey stayed in Jamestown for less than a year. While there, he became the Secretary of the Colony after the previous secretary died. He probably returned to England in late 1611. After returning, he published a collection of the laws that the governors had put in place in the colony.
He then wrote a longer book about the Virginia colony called The Historie of Travaile Into Virginia Britannia. He finished the first version in 1612. This book included his own experiences in early Virginia. But he also used information from other writers like Captain John Smith. Strachey made two more versions of the book over the next six years. He tried to find someone to publish his work, but he couldn't. His book was finally published much later, in 1849.
William Strachey died in June 1621. He was buried on June 21, 1621, at St Giles' Church, Camberwell, in Southwark. He died without much money, and he left behind a short poem.
In 1996, Strachey's signet ring was found in the ruins of Jamestown, Virginia. It was identified by his family's special seal, which showed an eagle.
Strachey's Family Life
On June 9, 1595, William Strachey married Frances Forster. Her family was well-off and had connections in politics. Frances and William had two children: William Strachey (born 1596) and Edmund Strachey (born 1604). Frances died before 1615. Sometime after that, Strachey married a widow named Dorothy. It seems they did not have any children together.
Strachey's son, William, married three times and passed away in 1635.
William Strachey's Works
- A true reportory of the wracke, and redemption of Sir THOMAS GATES Knight and at Virtual Jamestown.
- For The Colony in Virginea Britannia. Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall, &c. original-spelling version and modern-spelling version at Virtual Jamestown.
- The Historie of Travaile Into Virginia Britannia at Google Books.
- "A Dictionary of Powhatan" at Google Books.
