HAWKINS, or HAWKYNS,

See also:

• SIR

SIR

See also:

• RICHARD
• RICHARD (d. 1184)
• RICHARD, FRANCOIS MARIE BENJAMIN (18,9-1908)
• RICHARD, HENRY (1812-1888)
• RICHARD, ST

RICHARD (c. 1562-1622)  , British seaman, was the only son of Admiral Sir John Hawkins (q.v.) by his first marriage . He was from his earliest days familiar with ships and the sea, and in 1582 he accompanied his uncle, William Hawkins, to the West Indies . In 1585 he was captain of a galliot in Drake's expedition to the Spanish main, in 1588 he commanded a queen's ship against the Armada, and in 1J90 served with his father's expedition to the coast of Portugal . In 1593 he purchased the " Dainty," a ship originally built for his father and used by him in his expeditions, and sailed for the Wiest Indies, the Spanish main and the South Seas . It seems clear that his project was to prey on the oversea possessions of the king of Spain . Hawkins, however, in an account of the voyage written thirty years afterwards, maintained, and by that time perhaps had really persuaded himself, that his expedition was undertaken purely for the purpose of geographical discovery . After visiting the coast of Brazil, the " Dainty " passed through the Straits of Magellan, and in due course reached Valparaiso . Having plundered the town, Hawkins pushed north, and in June 1594, a year after leaving Plymouth, arrived in the bay of San Mateo . Here the "Dainty" was attacked by two Spanish ships . Hawkins was hopelessly outmatched, but defended himself with great courage . At last, when he himself had been severely wounded, many of his men killed, and the " Dainty " was nearly sinking, he surrendered on the promise of a safe-conduct out of the country for himself and his crew . Through no fault of the Spanish commander this promise was not kept .

In 1597 Hawkins was sent to Spain, and imprisoned first at

Seville and subsequently at Madrid . He was released in 16oz, and, returning to England, was knighted in 1603 . In 1604 he became member of parliament for Plymouth and vice-admiral of Devon, a post which, as the coast was swarming with pirates, was no sinecure . In 162o-16z1 he was vice-admiral, under Sir Robert Mansell, of the fleet sent into the Mediterranean to reduce the Algerian corsairs . He died in London on the 17th of April 1622 . See his Observations in his Voiage into the South Sea (1622), re-published by the Hakluyt Society .