96 HEREDITY AND DEVELOPMENT OF NAVAL OFFICERS. 



in 1690 he became captain and in 1708 was made vice admiral and later a lord of admiralty. 

 Finally he retired to his estates and became a member of Parliament and lord mayor of York. 

 He had sound judgment, was resourceful in an emergency, prompt, cool, and brave. 

 IV 1 (Propositus), SIR EDWARD HAWKE. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



BURKE, SIR B., and A. 1909. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Bar- 

 onetage. London: Harrison and Sons. 2570 pp. 



M AH AN, A. 1913. Types of Naval Officers Drawn from the History of the British Navy. Boston: 

 Little, Brown & Co. pp. 77-147. 



MARKHAM, C. 1885. Life of Robert Fairfax of Steeton. London: Macmillan & Co. 



NEILL, E. 1868. The Fairfaxes of England and America in the Seventeenth & Eighteenth 

 Centuries. Albany: J. Munsell. 234 pp. 



26. JOHN HAWKINS. 



JOHN HAWKINS was born at Plymouth, England, in 1532, of a family of men of 

 of the sea. He "was bred to the sea in the ships of his family." He early sailed 

 to the Guinea coast, robbed the Portuguese slavers, and then smuggled the cap- 

 tured negroes into the Spanish possessions of the New World at a tune when 

 foreign trade with them was strictly forbidden. His first voyage was in 1562-1563; 

 later he lost two vessels, confiscated by the Spanish; but he repeated his earlier 

 voyage with success, and thereby gained such a reputation that he was granted 

 a coat of arms, with a negro, chained, as his crest. A third trip was undertaken as 

 a national venture; again he kidnaped negroes, again he smuggled them into the 

 Spanish colonies. Finding the settlement unfortified, he entered Vera Cruz harbor, 

 but was caught there by a strong Spanish fleet and only two of his vessels (including 

 his own) escaped. He now remained for a tune on land, being, however, inter- 

 ested speculatively in privateering. In 1573 he became treasurer of the navy, 

 succeeding his father-in-law. For the rest of his life he was the principal ad- 

 ministrator of the navy. In 1588 he was sent, as rear admiral, against the Spanish 

 armada and was knighted for his services. He twice went out to capture Spanish 

 treasure-ships, but failed, and died at sea November 1595. 



Hawkins "craved adventure," especially on the sea. He is called "the 

 patriarch of the sea-rovers." Seamanship was his fixed passion; he read mathe- 

 matics and studied navigation, theoretically and practically. "His devotion to 

 the profession of the sea and his skill in it became a proverb in his own time." He 

 lived on the sea from boyhood to the time when national duty "called him to 

 administration"; but he went back to the sea and died on it. His father, William, 

 was a great sea-captain. "In later years his seamanlike skill, his knowledge of 

 the world, his adventurous disposition, and his genius for business obtained for 

 him the distinguished favor of bluff King Hal." He was valiant in action and sage 

 in counsel, a war commander of extreme versatility. On his mother's side the 

 propositus was a son's daughter's son of Sir John Trelawny, who fought with 

 King Henry at Agincourt and was rewarded for his bravery with a pension and 

 an addition to his coat of arms. His brother, William, was a ship-owner and sailed 

 to the Spanish Main in command of his own flotilla. Sir Richard, the son of the 

 propositus, had similar daring. He fought with Drake and against the Spanish 

 Armada, then set out for himself to prey on Spanish possessions in America under 

 the guise of discovery. He entered the harbor of Valparaiso and plundered the 



