William Strachey

William Strachey (4 April 1572 – buried 16 August 1621) was an English writer. His work helps us learn about the early days of the English colonisation of North America.

He is most famous for telling the story of a big storm in 1609. The ship he was on, called the Sea Venture, was sailing to Virginia when a huge hurricane hit it. The ship crashed on a place called Bermuda, which had no people living there at the time.

Strachey and the other people on the ship stayed on Bermuda for ten months. During that time, they built two small ships from the pieces of their broken ship. After that, they sailed to Virginia. The story Strachey wrote about this adventure and about life in the Virginia colony is very important. Many experts who study Shakespearean plays believe that Strachey's story helped inspire William Shakespeare's famous play, The Tempest.

Family

William Strachey was born on April 4, 1572, in Saffron Walden, Essex. He was the eldest son of William Strachey and Mary Cooke. His family was connected to important people in London and owned land in Kent.

After his mother died, his father married again and had more children. William grew up on a family estate and later went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, but he did not get a degree. He also spent time at Gray's Inn. In 1602, he inherited his father's estate after solving a legal problem with his stepmother, Elizabeth Brocket.

Career

Strachey wrote a sonnet called Upon Sejanus. It was published in the 1605 edition of the play Sejanus His Fall by Ben Jonson.

Strachey lived in London and enjoyed watching plays. He was a shareholder in a group of boy actors called the Children of the Revels. He made friends with many poets and playwrights in the city.

In 1606, Strachey became secretary to the English ambassador to Turkey. He disagreed with the ambassador and returned to England in 1608. He then decided to go to the New World. In 1609, he sailed to Virginia on the ship Sea Venture with Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers.

Shipwreck of the Sea Venture

Strachey was on the Sea Venture when the ship got lost in a hurricane. The ship was damaged and run aground near Bermuda. The group stayed on the island for nearly a year and built two small boats to continue their journey to Virginia.

Strachey wrote a letter in 1610 about the shipwreck and the situation at the Jamestown colony. His writings give us some of the few first-hand descriptions of Virginia from that time.

Later life and death

Strachey stayed at Jamestown for a short time and became the Secretary of the Colony. He returned to England around 1611 and wrote about the laws of the colony. He also worked on a manuscript about life in Virginia, but it was not published until much later.

Strachey passed away in August 1621. His burial was recorded at St Giles' Church, Camberwell in Southwark. In 1996, his signet ring was found in the ruins of Jamestown.

Marriages and issue

William Strachey married Frances Forster in 1595. Frances came from a wealthy family in Surrey and had important political connections. They lived apart—William stayed in London, while Frances remained at her family’s home in Crowhurst, Surrey. They had two sons together: William, born in 1596 or 1597, and Edmund, born in 1604. Sadly, Frances died before 1615.

After Frances’s death, William married again. His second wife was a widow named Dorothy, but they did not have any children.

William’s son, also named William, married three different times in his life. He died in 1635.

Works

William Strachey wrote several important books about early English settlements in North America. Some of his well-known works include A true reportory of the wracke, and redemption of Sir THOMAS GATES Knight, For The Colony in Virginea Britannia. Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall, &c., and The Historie of Travaile Into Virginia Britannia. He also created "A Dictionary of Powhatan" which can be found at Google Books. His writings give us valuable insights into life during that time.