The Popham colony or the Sagadahoc colony is one of the first short-lived English settlements in North America that existed in 1607-1608.
Content
History
In 1606, thanks to the charter of King James I , a Virginia company was established in England, consisting of two parts: the London company and the Plymouth company . The London company received rights to populate the North American coast from the 34th to the 41st parallel, Plymouth from 38th to the 45th; the right to populate the overlapping zone from the 38th to the 41st parallel should have been given to that company that would prove to be “sufficiently strong”. At the same time, from a formal point of view, Spain considered all of North America to be its possessions.
In August 1606, the Plymouth company sent its first ship, the Richard, to America, but it was intercepted by the Spaniards in the Florida area in November.
On May 31, 1607, the next expeditions left Plymouth . 120 colonists set off on two ships: on the Gift of God expedition leader George Popeham (son of Lord Chief Justice Sir John Popeham) and his deputy Raleigh Gilbert (son of Humphrey Gilbert , Walter Raleigh's nephew), captain of Mary and John Robert Davis sailed kept a diary, which became one of the main sources of information about the Popeham colony.
On August 13, 1607, “Gift of God” arrived at the mouth of the Kennebec River , and three days later Mary and John approached. The colonists began to quickly build a fortification, called the "Fort of St. George" in honor of the patron saint of England.
Popeham and Gilbert sent an expedition up the river, and came into contact with the Abenaki Indians, but could not establish cooperation with them. Since there was no time to farm, in December half of the colonists returned to England aboard the Gift of God.
The remaining colonists had to endure a difficult winter. The Kennebec River froze from frost, fires destroyed the food warehouse. On February 5, 1608, George Popeham died, and 25-year-old Raleigh Gilbert became the "president of the colony." In the spring, the colonists were able to build a Virginia pinas and establish trade with the Abenaki tribe, having prepared a cargo of the aralia plant.
When in 1608 a ship arrived with a supply cargo, it delivered news that Sir John Popeham had died. Gilbert sent Mary and John to England with a cargo of Aralia. When the ship returned at the end of summer, it brought news that the elder brother of Gilbert, John, had died, and Raleigh became the heir to the title and castle of Comton . Raleigh Gilbert decided to return to England, and the remaining 45 colonists decided to return with him. Thus, the Popeham colony was abandoned after a year of existence. The experience of this colony was taken into account, and subsequent settlements were based in places where winter storms are not so severe.
Map
As early as October 8, 1607, the colonist John Hunt, recorded on the list of settlers as a “draftsman,” drew a map of the colony. The Spanish ambassador in London through his spies was able to buy a copy of this card, and in 1608 handed it to the Spanish king Philip III . This copy was discovered in the Spanish archives in 1888.
Modern excavation
The first unsuccessful excavations in the area were undertaken in the 1960s. The location of the colony was found by Jeffrey Brain from the Peabody Museum in Essex in 1994, which was based on a Hunt map. In 1997, he undertook larger excavations, and discovered the admiral’s house, warehouse and alcohol storage. Part of the fort, probably including a chapel and a cemetery, is now located on the territory of private possession, and is inaccessible for excavation; the southern part of the fort is currently under the motorway.