David Kirke

Sir David Kirke (* around 1597 in Dieppe ; † 1654 in London ) was an English adventurer, trader and colonizer. In 1629, during the Thirty Years War , he captured the settlement of Québec in New France and occupied it for three years. From 1638 to 1651 he was governor of the Ferryland colony on the island of Newfoundland . A favorite of King Charles I , he fell from grace during the English Civil War and likely died in captivity.

biography

Campaign in Québec

David Kirke was the eldest of five sons of the wealthy merchant Gervase Kirke, who had married a Huguenot and was often on business in the French port city of Dieppe . In 1627, Kirke's father and other London traders founded the Company of Adventurers to Canada to promote trade and settlement on the Saint Lawrence River . When France and England entered the state of war in 1628 as part of the Thirty Years' War , the society financed an expedition to drive the French out of Canada on behalf of King Charles I.

Accompanied by his four brothers James, John, Lewis and Thomas, Kirke set out on three ships to bring settlers to Acadia , where William Alexander tried to build a colony. Then he traveled on to Tadoussac . He hijacked a French supply ship and sent Basque fishermen to the French settlement of Québec to deliver a surrender demand. Governor Samuel de Champlain refused the request because he expected support from France. Kirke then decided against an attack and returned to England. On the way back, he captured four other French ships. Since the Kirkes were born in France, their actions were considered high treason there .

A second invasion fleet with six ships and three pinnaces left Gravesend in March 1629. Jacques Michel, a deserter from Champlains, piloted them through the St. Lawrence River. When the fleet hijacked a scouting boat, Kirke learned that Québecans were starving due to poor supplies. He sent his brothers Lewis and Thomas to Champlain to urge him to surrender. Since he saw no alternative, he surrendered on July 19, 1629. The Company of Adventurers asked the king for sole trade and settlement rights along the St. Lawrence River. Sir William, seeing the privileges he had been granted in Canada at risk, complained. Both parties finally came to an agreement: Sir William received all the land in a ten-mile-wide strip along both river banks, in return the company was allowed to trade without restriction and use the ports free of charge.

Samuel de Champlain pointed out to the French ambassador in London that the conquest had been unlawful, since the state of war had already ended in April 1629 with the signing of the Peace of Susa, and demanded the return of the occupied territories to France. The peace negotiations dragged on for three years. In 1632, after signing the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye , England returned Québec and the Acadia to France. As compensation, Kirke was knighted in 1633 .

Governor of Newfoundland

It is believed that Kirke visited the Ferryland colony , as he published a report on the island of Newfoundland in 1635 and was impressed by the rich fishing grounds. In November 1637 he and his business partners were given a royal charter as joint landowners for the entire island. Part of Newfoundland, the Avalon Peninsula , had already been transferred to George Calvert . But he had neglected the colony before his death in 1632, which is why the lands came into Kirkes possession. A clause in the Royal Charter stated that no settlement could be built closer than six miles from the coast in order to avoid conflict with the fishermen; in addition, a duty of 5 percent should be levied on all catches by foreigners.

Kirke was installed as governor of the colony of Newfoundland and received a coat of arms from the king, the current provincial coat of arms of Newfoundland and Labrador . He arrived with 100 colonists in 1638 and took possession of the estate of William Hill , the governor of Avalon. Over the next several years, he built fortifications in Ferryland, St. John's and Bay de Verde . Kirke had been granted a trading monopoly on Newfoundland, which, however, excluded fishing. He used the land rights assigned to him to promote the fish trade, which was against the provisions of the Royal Charter. By 1638 Ferryland and Dartmouth were already in close trade , while he and his partners controlled all trade south of St. John's.

These activities led to significant disputes with traders from the west of England. The farmers and sedentary fishermen agreed that Kirke claimed the best fishing grounds for himself and his friends. He was also accused of opening taverns, which disrupted the settlers' work. But before these allegations could be investigated, the English Civil War broke out between the King and Parliament in 1642 .

Arrest and death

During the war, the Kirkes were left unmolested. Since they were royalists, they were on the loser's side at the end of the war in 1651. The dealers' allegations came back into focus and Kirke could no longer count on the protection of the crown. Six Agents, led by the merchant John Treworgie from Maryland , were sent to Ferryland to Kirke to arrest and bring him to England in court. The Republican Commonwealth seized its lands. In the ensuing court process, Kirke was found not guilty, whereupon he bought back his title in 1653. His wife, Sara Kirke, went to Newfoundland to oversee its business and reclaim its property. Cecil Calvert , George's son, however, made new charges against Kirke because of his family's claim to ownership of the lands around Ferryland. Kirke was incarcerated in Southwark Prison and likely died there in January 1654 while awaiting trial.

Web links

• John S. Moir: David Kirke . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
• Short biography of Kirkes , Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
• David Kirke , article in the Canadian Encyclopedia

Individual evidence

1. ^ Sir David Kirke and the Newfoundland Plantation. In: Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage. Memorial University of Newfoundland, accessed October 1, 2014 .