Seaflower (ship)

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Satellite photo of Providence Island, part of the ship's namesake Seaflower Marine Protected Area

The Seaflower was a sailing ship built in England. It was most notable for helping settle Puritans on the Caribbean Providence Island colony in 1631.[1][2] Regarded as sister ship to the Mayflower, the Seaflower also transported settlers to the New World, specifically to Jamestown, Virginia, colony in 1621.[3][4]

First ship

Seaflower frequented Bermuda, and sometime before 20 March [O.S. 30 March] 1622, the ship was accidentally sunk by a gunpowder explosion.[5] It was carrying supplies for a Virginia relief mission.[6][additional citation(s) needed]

Second ship

In 1629, Privateer Captain Daniel Elfrith (aboard the Robert) scouted the archipelago of "Santa Calatina" for riches and as a staging point for Spanish ship plundering.[7] The Earl of Warwick was looking for a new location to build a colony, yielding the setup of Providence Island Company.[8] In c. February 1631, 100 men and boys (mostly Puritans recruited from Essex, England) boarded the Seaflower, sailing from Deptford to Providence Island.[9] Ninety passengers settled the island in c. May 1631,[10] intending to load the ship with exotic plants and produce for profit in London.[11]


Seaflower returned to London in March, 1632. It was attacked-at-sea by Spanish during the return voyage, with Captain John Tanner and crew narrowly escaping. The ship's cargo was only a small cargo of poor quality tobacco.[12] Later, the Seaflower returned to Providence Island and was loaded again, this time with 1 tonne (1,000 kg) of "mechoacan potatoes" (Ipomoea purga) for their medicinal value.[13]

In autumn 1676, the Seaflower was still in use as a transport for slaves from Africa to the Caribbean.[14] During and after King Phillip's War, the Seaflower was used to transport Native Americans as slaves to Bermuda and other Caribbean colonies.[15][16]

In 1696, notorious pirates Henry Every and Joseph Faro most likely[note 1] used the ship during their time in and around Rhode Island.[18][19]


The Marine Protected Area and Biosphere Reserve surrounding the islands is named after the ship.[20][21][additional citation(s) needed]

See also

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ It is debatable that the single-sail sloop, the Sea Flower [sic] used by Henry Every was a different ship than the multi-sail Seaflower.[17]

References

  1. ^ Coldham, Peter Wilson (1987). The Complete Book of Emigrants: 1607–1660. Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 978-0-8063-1192-0. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  2. ^ "tom feiling writer journalist documentary columbia cocaine hip hop". www.tomfeiling.com.
  3. ^ Feiling, Tom. The Island that Disappeared: The Lost History of the Mayflower's Sister Ship and Its Rival Puritan Colony. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-61219-708-1.
  4. ^ Stevens, Anne. "Seaflower 1621". Packrat Productions. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  5. ^ Lefroy, Sir John Henry (1877). Memorials of the discovery and early settlement of the Bermudas or Somers Islands, 1515-1685. pp. XXXV, 119, 264, 287, 326.
  6. ^ Stanard, Mary Newton (1928). Story of Virginia's First Century. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott. pp. 179-181. Free access icon
  7. ^ Feiling, Tom. The Island that Disappeared: The Lost History of the Mayflower's Sister Ship and Its Rival Puritan Colony. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-61219-708-1.
  8. ^ Feiling, Tom. The Island that Disappeared: The Lost History of the Mayflower's Sister Ship and Its Rival Puritan Colony. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-61219-708-1.
  9. ^ Feiling, Tom. The Island that Disappeared: The Lost History of the Mayflower's Sister Ship and Its Rival Puritan Colony. p. 30-33. ISBN 978-1-61219-708-1.
  10. ^ Hamshere, Cyril (1972). The British in the Caribbean. pp. 41–44. ISBN 9780674082359.
  11. ^ Feiling, Tom. The Island that Disappeared: The Lost History of the Mayflower's Sister Ship and Its Rival Puritan Colony. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-61219-708-1.
  12. ^ Feiling, Tom. The Island that Disappeared: The Lost History of the Mayflower's Sister Ship and Its Rival Puritan Colony. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-61219-708-1.
  13. ^ Feiling, Tom. The Island that Disappeared: The Lost History of the Mayflower's Sister Ship and Its Rival Puritan Colony. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-61219-708-1.
  14. ^ Newell, 2015, p. 148. https://mayflowermavericks.wordpress.com/2017/03/03/news2/
  15. ^ Philbrick, Nathaniel (2006). Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War. Viking. p. 364. ISBN 9780670037605.
  16. ^ "Mayflower to Seaflower". March 3, 2017.
  17. ^ Rogoziński 2000, p. 90
  18. ^ "Coins found in New England help solve mystery of murderous 1600s pirate: "One of the greatest crimes of the 17th century" - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. December 8, 2022.
  19. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20210401060735/https://wacotrib.com/news/national/ancient-coins-may-solve-mystery-of-murderous-1600s-pirate/article_f7d02b03-71a7-5e8c-b5dc-8ab9fa994df1.html
  20. ^ "Providencia: An island with a 'sea of seven colours'". www.bbc.com.
  21. ^ "The Protocol on Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife in the Wider Caribbean (SPAW): Seaflower Marine Protected Area" (PDF). October 23, 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
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