George Somers

Admiral Sir George Somers (1554-1610) was a British naval hero. Born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, the son of John Somers, his first fame came as part of an expedition led by Sir Amyas Preston against the Spanish navy in 1595. He is remembered today as the founder of the English colony of Bermuda, also known officially as the Somers Isles.

Somers commanded several British ships between 1600 and 1602, including the HMS Vanguard, HMS Swiftsure and HMS Warspite. He was knighted in 1603 and became Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis the same year. He was also at one time the Mayor of the town.

In 1609, Somers was made Admiral of the Virginia Company's Supply Relief Fleet, which left Britain for the Virginia Colony. On 25 July 1609, battered by a huge storm, his ship the Sea Venture was wrecked off the reefs of Bermuda's Discovery Bay. Somers, along with all those others who had survived the wreck of the Sea Venture, was presumed dead by those who continued on to Virginia, but instead, remained in Bermuda for 10 months.

During their time on the islands, the crew and passengers formed the start of the Bermuda colony, building a church and houses. Somers and Sir Thomas Gates (also among the castaways) between them oversaw the construction of two ships, the Deliverance and the Patience, from spars and rigging of the wrecked Sea Venture and local timber.

In May 1610 the ships set sail, with 142 castaways on board. On arrival, they found the Virginia Colony almost destroyed by famine and disease during what has become known as the "Starving Time". Very few of the supplies from the Supply Relief Fleet had arrived (the same hurricane which caught the Sea Venture had also badly affected the rest of the fleet), and only 60 settlers remained alive. It was only through the arrival of the two small ships from Bermuda, and the arrival of another relief fleet commanded by Lord Delaware in July of 1610 that the abandonement of Jamestown was avoided and the colony was able to survive.

Sir George returned to Bermuda in the Patience to collect more food, but he became ill on the journey and died, on November 9, 1610 in Bermuda.

A biography, "Sir George Somers: A Man and his Times", was written by David Raine.