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Son of William Hawkins, one of the five richest men in Plymouth in
1543. He was worth £150 a year (to get a sense of scale bear in mind that the
towns total income in that year was £63). During that year he
was accused of being responsible for a fellow townsman’s near death by
beating. He managed to avoid trial over this.
In 1544 William received the Kings Commission to ‘annoy the King’s enemies’. William trod a fine line between legality and piracy. He was sent to prison at one point but this did not prevent him on release from more piracy. When William died his estate went to his two sons William and John. William Jr. managed the business at home and John took control at sea.
| Soon after 1560, John Hawkins had moved to
London and, after marrying the daughter of the Treasury of the Navy, formed
a syndicate of wealthy merchants and officials including Sir Lionel
Duckett and Sir Thomas Lodge, who were already engaged in Gold
Coast trade, Benjamin Gonson and Sir William Winter (d. 1589).
This syndicate's period of activity may mark the time when a nexus of
interest strengthened - between "naval men" and merchant-slavers. By 1564,
John Hawkins' patrons included
Robert Dudley, Earl Leicester
and Henry Herbert,
Earl of Pembroke. He had backers including Sir Lionel Duckett, Sir
Thomas Lodge and Sir William Winter, his own father-in-law
Benjamin Gonson. Sir Lionel Duckett was a cloth manufacturer and
metalworker who had three daughters each given large dowries. Duckett
had a company with the Cecils and the earls of
Pembroke to construct
waterworks to drain mines. He was
Aldermen and
Lord Mayor of
London. He became a sea captain and in 1562 became the first Englishman to start capturing people in Sierra Leona and selling them as slaves to Spanish settlers in the Caribbean. The following year his cousin, Francis Drake, joined him in these activities. As it was illegal for the settlers to buy from foreigners, Hawkins and Drake soon came into conflict with the Spanish authorities. |
Sir Lionel Duckett Lord Mayor of London |
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When John Hawkins sailed on his first venture from Plymouth in Oct 1562 to the Canaries, his chief ally amongst the Spanish was Pedro de Ponte. Hawkins sailed thence for Cape Verde, while Ponte dealt with Hispaniola (Jamaica). Hawkins got about 400 slaves, some from Portuguese ships. In April 1563 Hawkins got to north of Hispaniolo, to Puerto de Plata; then to La Isabela, bartering slaves for goods, pearls, hides and sugars, some gold.
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