Sir John Hawkins the Privateer - Fun Facts for Kids !

1: John Hawkins was born in Plymouth, Devon in England, in 1532. His father, William Hawkins, was a merchant, a sea captain and had served in Parliament.

2: Little is known of his early life although he was well educated and followed the family trade by going to sea.

3: By 1562 John Hawkins had formed a syndicate of wealthy merchants who wanted to invest in the trading of slaves. He set sail for Guinea with three ships and attacked a Portuguese ship loaded with slaves. In the same year he married Katherine Gonson, the daughter Benjamin Gonson, the Treasurer of the Royal Navy. His son, Sir Richard Hawkins, was born c1592.

4: John Hawkins sailed for the Caribbean with his valuable load and, following his arrival at Santo Domingo in Hispaniola, sold them in the Spanish colonies. This act established John Hawkins as the first English slave trader.

5: The venture was very profitable so a second expedition was planned for 1564. Backed by investors which included Queen Elizabeth I, Hawkins set sail with the Queen’s carrack ‘Jesus of Lubeck’ and three other ships.

6: John Hawkins, accompanied by his cousin, Sir Francis Drake, headed for the west coast of Africa. He captured in excess of 400 slaves and crossed the Atlantic where, once again, he traded them with the Spanish.

7: The same year, accompanied once again by Sir Francis Drake, John Hawkins began his third slaving expedition. While on this expedition, his fleet sailed to San Juan de Ulua (modern day Vera Cruz) to shelter from a storm. A Spanish fleet of 13 ships appeared and destroyed all but 2 of the English ships.

8: The ‘Minion’, commanded by Hawkins, and the ‘Judith’, commanded by Drake, managed to escape and headed for Plymouth where they arrived on 20 January 1569. This incident led to the bitterness that arose between England and Spain and resulted in the deploying of the Spanish Armada.

9: In 1571 Hawkins tricked the Spanish Ambassador when he appeared to take part in a plot to replace Queen Elizabeth I with Mary, Queen of Scots. He acquired the details of the plan, known as the ‘Ridolfi Plot’ and informed the government. Subsequently the plotters were arrested and the plot foiled.

10: In c1577/8, following the death of his father in law, Hawkins was designated Treasurer of the Royal Navy. Using the skills he had learned from his family business, he set about improving the design and construction of the naval ships.

11: In 1588 the newly designed ships, which were faster and more manoeuvrable, played a major part in defeating the Spanish Armada. Hawkins took part in the battle, alongside Drake and Sir Martin Frobisher, and was knighted for his actions.

12: In 1589 Sir John Hawkins, accompanied by Drake, made an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Spain re-arming by attacking their treasure ships on their return from Mexico.

13: In 1591 his wife Katherine died and he married Margaret Vaughan.

14: In 1595 Sir John Hawkins joined Drake on an expedition to attack Spanish ships in the West Indies. During the expedition they both fell fatally ill. Sir John Hawkins died at sea off the coast of Puerto Rico on 12 November 1595.