John Hawkins (naval commander)

Admiral Sir John Hawkins (also spelled Hawkyns) (1532 – 1595) was an English naval commander, naval administrator, privateer and slave trader.

Hawkins pioneered, and was an early promoter of, English involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. He is considered to be the first English merchant to profit from the Triangle Trade, selling enslaved people from Africa to the Spanish colonies in the West Indies in the late 16th century.

In 1588, Hawkins served as a Vice-Admiral and fought in the victory over the Spanish Armada, for which he was knighted for gallantry. As Treasurer of the Navy, Hawkins became the chief architect of the Elizabethan Navy. He redesigned the navy so the ships were faster, more manoeuvrable and had more firepower.

Hawkins' son, Richard Hawkins, was captured by the Spanish. In response, along with his cousin Sir Francis Drake, he raised a fleet of ships to attack the Spanish in the West Indies. However, he died at sea during the expedition.

Early years

thumb|Hawkins was brought up in [[Plymouth, a well-defended naval port.]]

John Hawkins was born to a prominent family of ship builders and captains in the naval port of Plymouth in Devon. His exact date of birth is unknown, but was likely between November 1532 and March 1533. He was the second son of William Hawkins, who was the first Englishman to sail to Brazil, and Joan Trelawny, daughter and sole heiress of Roger Trelawny of Brighton, Cornwall. Sir Francis Drake, his second cousin, was brought up and lived in the same Protestant household as Hawkins.

Hawkins killed a man, a barber from Plymouth called White, before the age of 20. The coroner decided White was the antagonist, and Hawkins's father secured a royal pardon. He worked with his older brother William Hawkins in the shipping industry and in privateering.

In 1562, he set sail with three ships (Saloman, Jonas, and Swallow) travelling down the African coast as far as Sierra Leone, he captured people and enslaved them as he went, taking around 300 people in total.

The trade was so prosperous that, on his return to England, the College of Arms granted Hawkins a coat of arms which displays an enslaved male. Hawkins is widely considered to be the first English merchant to profit from the Triangle Trade; trading English goods for enslaved people in Africa, then selling those people in the Americas and buying foreign goods to be sold in England after the return journey.

The voyage returned a profit reported at 60%.

Slave voyage of John Lovell (1566–1567)

Hawkins first two slave voyages had angered the Spanish and in response the queen had prohibited Hawkins from going to sea. Instead he arranged his next slave voyage and gave the captaincy to a relative of his called John Lovell. Sir Francis Drake, who is also likely to be a relative of Lovell, was on the voyage.

Lovell sailed to the West African coast in 1566 and through piracy captured five ships, three of which were slave ships. He took the cargo of enslaved people and other goods to the Spanish West Indies to be sold. His next stop was Cacheu, in modern-day Guinea-Bissau, where he captured several trading vessels but was again driven back to his ships by the local Papel people and lancados. Hawkins recruited a local king in Sierra Leone to help him forcibly kidnap people, capturing over 500 people. On 7 February 1568, he set sail across the Atlantic Ocean to sell these people. He sold some of his captives in Margarita Province and others in Borburata, forcing residents again to buy his cargo. This included some of the 400 people he had captured and enslaved in West Africa. After careen their ships Francis Drake receives from Hawkins the command of the Judith. At Rio de la Hacha, the governor refused him permission to trade, so Francis Drake shot at his house and Hawkins took over the town in a battle, before selling the enslaved people.

1570–1587

thumb|Sir John Hawkins (left) with Sir Francis Drake (centre) and Sir [[Thomas Cavendish]]

In 1578 Hawkins was appointed Treasurer of the Navy, briefly he worked alongside his father-in-law, Benjamin Gonson, before taking full control of the position. He embarked on a comprehensive reform of naval administration and managed to achieve an annual saving of nearly £4,000 per annum, while at the same time raising naval pay. He reformed the design of galleons so that they were longer, able to carry a larger number of guns, more manoeuvrable and faster moving. As a result of Hawkins' reforms, according to Garrett Mattingly, the Navy was a "fighting-fleet faster and more weatherly than any that had ever been seen on the ocean before".

Spanish Armada

thumb|The Spanish Armada in 1588

Hawkins served as a Vice-Admiral during victory against the Spanish Armada, he was part of the war council and third in command overall. Hawkins had an extensive influence on the outcome of the engagement not only through his command, but because his improved ship designs, while acting as Treasurer of the Navy, had given the fleet more firepower and speed.

Final years and death

Katherine Hawkins, his wife, died in 1591; he then married Margaret Vaughan (d. 1619), daughter of Charles Vaughan, a Lady of the Bedchamber of Queen Elizabeth I.

In 1593, Richard Hawkins, his son, was defeated and captured by the Spanish at a naval battle called the action of San Mateo Bay. With his cousin, Sir Francis Drake, John Hawkins raised a fleet of 27 ships to attack the Spanish in the West Indies. They set sail from Plymouth on 29 August 1595. Bad weather and skirmishes with the Spanish fleet hampered their efforts to get his son back. On 12 November 1595, it was reported that Hawkins had died at sea close to Puerto Rico.

Legacy

thumb| was named after him.

Hawkins’ legacy divides opinion. The historian Geoffrey Elton appraised Hawkins as "one of the founding-fathers of England's naval tradition ... he was a man of commanding presence and intellect, of outstanding abilities as a seaman, administrator, fighter and diplomat." More recently he has been described as a pirate and slave trader.

The Royal Navy named a heavy cruiser, after him, the ship was in commission between 1919 and 1947. The Hospital of Sir John Hawkins, Knight, in Chatham, Kent, was originally built by him and takes his name.

In the 16th century slavery was often accepted without a judgment of moral values. The Victorian era saw Hawkins described as the unscrupulous father of the English slave trade.

References

Sources

Kelsey, Harry. Sir John Hawkins, Queen Elizabeth's Slave Trader, Yale University Press, 384 pages, (April 2003),