William Strachey
William Strachey (1572-1621) was an English writer and barrister, whose writings are among the primary sources for the history the
English colonization of
North America, and as one of the few narratives describing
Powhatan society.
Strachey was born in
1572 in
Surrey, England. He attended
Emmanuel College at
Cambridge University. He later studied at
Gray's Inn.
In 1609 Strachey joined the
Virginia Company of London, a
joint-stock company, to colonize Virginia. He was aboard the
flagship Sea Venture with the leaders of the expedition when the ship was blown off course and ran aground on the island of
Bermuda.
He is especially remembered for the record of this shipwreck, which he composed in his capacity as the secretary of the expedition. Textual similarities between the text and
William Shakespeare's
The Tempest have led some scholars to conclude that Shakespeare read Strachey's work and was influenced by it in his description of the shipwreck and island in the play.
A partial except of Strachey's description:
And the ship in every joint almost, having spewed out her oakum, before we were aware was grown five foot suddenly deep with water above her ballast, and we almost drowned within, whiles we sat looking when to perish from above. This imparting no less terror than danger, ran through the whole ship with much fright and amazement, startled and turned the blood, and took down the braves of the most hardy Mariner of them all, insomuch as he that before happily felt not the sorrow of others, now began to sorrow for himself, when he saw such a pond of water so suddenly broken in and which he knew could not (without present avoiding) but instantly sink him. sourceStrachey's writings are among the few first-hand descriptions of Virginia in the period. His list of words of the
Powhatan are one of only two records of the language (the other being
Captain John Smith's.)
In 1997, Strachey's
signet ring was discovered in the ruins of Jamestown -- it was identifiable by the family seal, an
eagle.
