108 Arctic and Antarctic Exploration [part i 
the government. In April 1636 he was made Master of 
the Rolls. He died on March 18th, 1639, at the age of 
56,. and was buried in Chilham church; one ' £ whose 
death the wisest men reckon among the public calamities 
of these times/' He was a learned lawyer, an able diplo- 
matist and a great promoter of Arctic discovery. 
Alderman Sir Francis Jones was another active col- 
league of Sir Thomas Smith in the encouragement of 
maritime enterprise. He was of a Shropshire family, 
citizen and haberdasher of London, Alderman of Aldgate 
Ward and Lord Mayor. He was also one of the farmers 
of Customs and was knighted on March 12th, 1617. 
Sir Francis resided at Welford, where he died in 1622. 
The father of Sir John Wolstenholme, the patron of 
Baffin, also named John, was a native of Derbyshire. 
He came to London and, after making a fortune, estab- 
lished himself at Stanmore Magna near Harrow. His 
son was born in 1562, and became an active promoter 
of voyages for the discovery of a passage to Cathay. 
He was knighted at Whitehall, built the church at 
Stanmore at his sole expense, and dying at the age of 
77 in November 1639 was buried at Stanmore, where 
there is a handsome monument to his memory. 
Alderman William Cockayne was Governor of the 
Eastland Company and the London planters in Ulster, 
and it was under his direction that the City of London- 
derry was founded. He became Lord Mayor and was 
knighted in 1616. He was also a Director of the East 
India Company, and a warm supporter of Arctic voyages. 
Sir James Lancaster was a native of Basingstoke. 
He commanded the first English voyage to the East 
Indies, and also the first voyage of the East India Com- 
pany. After his return in 1603 he was knighted, and 
served as a Director of the East India Company. Sir 
James was wealthy and lived in something more than 
comfort at his house in St Mary Axe, actively promoting 
voyages of discovery. He died in June 1618, and left 
a large sum to found a school at Basingstoke 1 . 
Richard Bell was another London merchant who 
embarked in various enterprises having discovery as 
1 See the writer's volume The Voyages of Sir James Lancaster to the 
East Indies, edited for the Hakluyt Society in 1877. 
