Christopher Levett | |
|---|---|
| Born | Christopher Levett 5 April 1586 York, England |
| Died | 1630 (aged 43–44) aboard the Porcupine, Atlantic Ocean |
| Resting place | buried at sea |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation(s) | English naval captain, explorer, author |
| Known for | explorer of New England; granted 6,000 acres to settle Colony of York (now Portland, Maine), 15 May 1623 |
| Title | Captain; His Majesty's Woodward of Somersetshire; Principal, Plymouth Council for New England |
| Spouse(s) | Mercy Levett (née More); Frances Levett (née Lottisham) |
| Children | Sarah Levett Hitch; Mary Levett; Rev. Jeremiah Levett; Timothy Levett; Elizabeth Levett |
| Parent(s) | Percival Levett, Elizabeth (née Rotherforth) Levett |
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Captain Christopher Levett (15 April 1586 – 1630) was an English writer, explorer and naval captain, born at York, England.[1] He explored the coast of New England and secured a grant from the king to settle present-day Portland, Maine, the first European to do so. Levett left behind a group of settlers at his Maine plantation in Casco Bay, but they were never heard from again. Their fate is unknown. As a member of the Plymouth Council for New England, Levett was named the Governor of Plymouth[2] in 1623 and a close adviser to Capt. Robert Gorges in his attempt to found an early English colony at Weymouth, Massachusetts, which also failed.[3][4] Levett was also named an early governor of Virginia in 1628, according to Parliamentary records at Whitehall.[5]
- ^ The Levett family from which Christopher Levett derived came from Bolton Percy, Yorkshire. But this York family shared a coat-of-arms with the Levetts of Normanton and High Melton, Yorkshire, sort of an early DNA assay, indicating that the two families had common roots. Christopher Levett's coat-of-arms appeared in an early survey of Sherborne, Dorset, where was residing. [1]
- ^ New-England's Memorial, Nathaniel Morton, William Bradford, Thomas Prince, Edward Winslow, Congregational Board of Publication, Boston, 1855
- ^ Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, 1606–1646, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1920
- ^ The length of Levett's service as Governor of Plymouth is unknown, but he returned to England the year following his appointment (1624), and during his time in New England seems to have been constantly on the move. Also unclear are what Levett's duties were as Governor of Plymouth, in which capacity he is referred to as the 'chief judicial officer,' with 'Esquire' appended to his name.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony refers to the explorer as "Christoper Levite." Nathaniel Morton, Bradford's nephew and the colony's secretary, calls him "Christopher Levet." Record-keeping in the early days of the colony was sometimes sporadic.
- ^ Calendar of State Papers, Great Britain Public Record Office, Vol. 6, Colonial Series, William Noel Sainsbury, John William Fortescue, Cecil Headlam (eds.), Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1860
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