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48-449: Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr ( / ˈ d ɛ l ə w ɛər / DEL -ə-wair ; 9 July 1576 – 7 June 1618), was an English nobleman, for whom the bay , the river , and, consequently, a Native American people and U.S. state , all later called "Delaware", were named. A member of the House of Lords , from the death of his father in 1602 until his own death in 1618, he served as

96-638: A tobacco crop for export. He played a crucial role in the Virginia Colony's early economy by introducing a sweeter strain of tobacco from Trinidad , which became a profitable cash crop. Rolfe married Pocahontas, daughter of Native American leader Powhatan , and they had a son named Thomas. Rolfe and Pocahontas traveled to England in 1616 to promote colonization and investment in Virginia. After Pocahontas died, Rolfe returned to Virginia and continued working with tobacco. The tobacco strain cultivated by Rolfe laid

144-661: A competing Swedish sponsored settlement, New Sweden in 1638. The resulting dispute with the Dutch colonial authorities in New Amsterdam (New York City) was settled when Petrus Stuyvesant led a Dutch military force into the area in 1655. After the English took title to the New Netherland colony in 1667 at the Treaty of Breda the bay came into their possession and was renamed Delaware Bay,

192-600: A director of the company, Samuel Godijn . As part of the New Netherland colony, the Dutch established several settlements (the most famous being Zwaanendael ) on the shores of the bay and explored its coast extensively. The thin nature of the corporate colony's presence in the bay and along what was called the South River (now the Delaware) made it possible for Peter Minuit , the former director of New Netherland, to establish

240-420: A penalty of death to anyone selling such seeds to a non-Spaniard. At one point in time it was believed that John was the son of John Rolfe and his wife Dorothy Mason. However, historians have now determined that this relationship is incorrect. One major inconsistency that shows they are not his parents is that John is known to have had a brother named Henry. After John's death, his brother Henry Rolfe petitioned

288-663: A private audience from King James I to explain why he wasn't governing in Virginia. He was summoned by the Virginia Company where he explained his health conditions (" flux ", cramps, gout , and scurvy) in detail and his diet of oranges and lemons in the Azores helped him recover. Later that year, De La Warr published a book titled The Relation of the Right Honourable the Lord De-La-Warre, Lord Governour and Captaine Generall of

336-613: A three-day-long storm, thought to have been a severe hurricane. The ships of the fleet became separated. The Sea Venture was taking on water faster than it could be bailed. The Admiral of the Company, Sir George Somers , took the helm and the ship was deliberately driven onto the reefs of Bermuda to prevent its foundering. All aboard, 150 passengers and crew, and one dog, survived. Most remained for ten months in Bermuda, (also known as The Somers Isles), while they built two small ships to continue

384-453: Is a key stopover site for over 30 species of migrating shorebirds that migrate north come May. Many birds like red knots use this Bay area to fuel up their energy reserves on horseshoe crab eggs after the long journey. Delaware Bay hosts the largest population of horseshoe crabs in the world. At the time of the arrival of the Europeans in the early 17th century, the area around the bay

432-567: The Azores or at sea. By 2006, researchers had concluded that his body was brought to Jamestown for burial. In October 2017, archaeologists excavated remains from underneath one of the churches at Historic Jamestowne . While two sets of remains were De La Warr's relatives, Sir Ferdinando Wainman and Captain William West, none were identified as Lord De La Warr. On 25 November 1596, De La Warr married Cecily Shirley (born c. 1579 died c.  1662 ),

480-460: The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal . The U.S Coast Guard sector for Delaware Bay was established in 2005, and has 570 active personnel, and 195 reservists. John Rolfe John Rolfe ( c.  1585 – March 1622) was an English explorer, farmer and merchant. He is best known for being the husband of Pocahontas and the first settler in the colony of Virginia to successfully cultivate

528-587: The Parliament of England for Lymington in 1597. He succeeded his father as Baron De La Warr in 1602. It was said that he became a member of the Privy Council , but this has been disproved. In 1645 Dame Cicly petitioned the House of Lords to continue the pension that King James had granted her husband. There is only one supposedly contemporaneous portrait of Thomas, from 1605, but its authenticity has been questioned on

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576-731: The Powhatans killed John Ratcliffe , the Jamestown Colony 's Council President, and attacked the colony in what became the First Anglo-Powhatan War . As part of England's response, De La Warr recruited and equipped a contingent of 150 men and outfitted three ships at his own expense, and sailed from England in March 1610. In 1610 captain Samuel Argall named Delaware Bay in honor of Lord De La Warr. Shortly afterwards Dutch settlers along

624-570: The Starving Time . Very few supplies from the Third Supply had arrived because the same hurricane that caught the Sea Venture badly affected the rest of the fleet. Only 60 settlers remained alive. It was only through the arrival of the two small ships from Bermuda, and the arrival of another relief fleet commanded by Lord De La Warr on 10 June 1610, that the abandonment of Jamestown was avoided and

672-559: The governor of Virginia from 1610 to 1611. There have been two creations of Baron De La Warr , and West came from the second. He was the son of Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr , of Wherwell Abbey in Hampshire , and Anne Knollys , daughter of Catherine Knollys ; making him a great-grandson of Mary Boleyn , the sister of Anne Boleyn , the second wife of King Henry VIII . He was born at Wherwell, Hampshire, England, and died at sea while travelling from England to Virginia . Counting from

720-470: The "Chart of Delaware Bay" was restricted by the authorities as its accuracy might advantage an enemy approach. In 1782 during the American Revolutionary War , Continental Navy Lieutenant Joshua Barney fought with a British squadron within the bay. Barney's force of three sloops defeated a Royal Navy frigate , a sloop-of-war and a Loyalist privateer . The strategic importance of

768-636: The 1580s up the Orinoco River in Guiana in search of the legendary City of Gold, El Dorado . The appeal of Orinoco tobacco was in its nicotine , and the conviviality of its use in social situations. In 1612, Rolfe established Varina Farms , a plantation along the James River about 30 miles (50 km) upstream from Jamestown and across the river from Sir Thomas Dale 's progressive development at Henricus . The first harvest of four barrels of tobacco leaf

816-653: The Atlantic. Delaware Bay is bordered by six counties: Sussex, Kent, and New Castle in Delaware, and Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem in New Jersey. The Cape May–Lewes Ferry crosses Delaware Bay from North Cape May, New Jersey , to Lewes, Delaware . The bay's ports are managed by the Delaware River and Bay Authority . The shores of the bay are largely composed of salt marshes and mudflats , with only small communities inhabiting

864-832: The Colonie, planted in Virginea . The work was mockingly subtitled: A Short Relation made by the Lord De-La-Warre, to the Lords and others of the Councill of Virginea, touching his unexpected returne home, and afterwards delivered to the General Assembly of said Company... , written by Company employee Samuel Calvert. In the autumn of 1616, Baron De La Warr and his wife Lady Cecilia introduced John Rolfe and his wife, Pocahontas , into English society. The visitors from Virginia were in London to raise funds for

912-482: The Colony at Bermuda dates its settlement from 1609. Among those left buried in Bermuda were Bermuda Rolfe, the daughter of John. In May 1610, the two newly constructed ships set sail from Bermuda, with 142 castaways on board, including Rolfe, George Somers , Stephen Hopkins , and Sir Thomas Gates . On arrival at Jamestown, they found the Virginia Colony almost destroyed by famine and disease during what has become known as

960-585: The Delaware River is by far the largest tributary of Delaware Bay, numerous smaller rivers and streams also drain to the bay. These include the Appoquinimink River , Leipsic River , Smyrna River , St. Jones River , Mispillion River , Broadkill River and Murderkill Rivers on the Delaware side, and the Salem River , Cohansey River , and Maurice Rivers on the New Jersey side. Delaware Bay ecosystem

1008-685: The United States; it is the second busiest waterway after the Mississippi River . Its lower course forms part of the Intracoastal Waterway . The need for direct navigation around the two capes into the ocean is circumvented by the Cape May Canal and the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal at the north and south capes respectively. The upper bay is connected directly to the north end of Chesapeake Bay by

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1056-740: The Virginia Company for funds from John's Virginia estate, to help pay for the care of John's son Thomas Rolfe who was then in Henry's care. Dorothy Mason and her husband John Rolfe are not known to have had a son named Henry.{William Thorndale, "Two Rolfe Negatives," in The Virginia Genealogist, 34(1990):209-210} A project of the proprietary Virginia Company of London , Jamestown had been established by an initial group of settlers on 14 May 1607. This colony proved as troubled as earlier English settlements. Two return trips with supplies by Christopher Newport arrived in 1608, while another large relief fleet

1104-458: The Virginia Company of London and to encourage colonization of Virginia. De La Warr remained the nominal governor, and after receiving complaints from the colonists about Argall's tyranny in governing them on his behalf, he set sail for Virginia again in 1618 aboard the Neptune to investigate those charges. He died at sea on 7 June. It was thought for many years that Lord De La Warr had been buried in

1152-662: The basis of the sitter's attire and physical attributes. Lord De La Warr was the largest investor in the London Company , which received two charters to settle colonists in the New World, and furnished and sent several vessels to accomplish that aim. He was appointed governor-for-life and captain-general of the Virginia, to replace the governing council of the colony under the presidency of Captain John Smith . Subsequently, in November 1609,

1200-559: The bay gave it a different name, but the name Delaware Bay was restored when the English took control of the area in 1665. Lord De La Warr contracted malaria or scurvy in 1611. He left the colony on a ship captained by Argall headed to the West Indies to recover but was blown off course by a storm, ending up in Faial Island , Azores . West returned to London, England in June, 1611. He requested

1248-561: The bay was noticed by the Marquis de Lafayette during the American Revolutionary War , who proposed the use of Pea Patch Island at the head of the bay for a defensive fortification to protect the important ports Philadelphia and New Castle, Delaware . Fort Delaware was later constructed on Pea Patch Island. During the American Civil War it was used as a Union prison camp. In 1855, the United States government systematically undertook

1296-597: The coastline from as far north as Delaware Bay. That same year, De Ayllon and Captain Quejo called Delaware Bay by the name "Saint Christopher's Bay". In the 1600s, the bay was known as "Niew Port May" after Captain Cornelius May . Another recorded European visit to the bay was by Henry Hudson , who claimed it for the Dutch East India Company in 1609. The Dutch called the estuary "Godyns Bay", or "Godins Bay" after

1344-591: The colony survived. After finally settling in Rolfe began his long-delayed work with tobacco. In competing with Spain for European markets, there was another problem beside the warmer climates the Spanish settlements enjoyed. The native tobacco from Virginia ( Nicotiana rustica ) was not liked by the English settlers, nor did it appeal to the market in England. However, Rolfe wanted to introduce sweeter strains from Trinidad , using

1392-477: The consumption of tobacco had increased, the balance of trade between England and Spain began to be seriously affected. Rolfe was one of a number of businessmen who saw the opportunity to undercut Spanish imports by growing tobacco in England's new colony in Virginia. He had somehow obtained seeds to take with him from a special popular strain, then being grown in Trinidad , South America, even though Spain had declared

1440-439: The daughter of Sir Thomas Shirley of Wiston , Sussex , and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Kempe. They had 9 known children: Lord De La Warr's brother, John West , later became governor and married Anne Percy, daughter of George Percy . Delaware Bay The bay is bordered inland by the states of Delaware and New Jersey , and its mouth is framed by Cape Henlopen in Delaware and Cape May in New Jersey, on

1488-623: The deputy governor of the colony, Sir Thomas Dale , and 12 members of Pocahontas' tribe, including her brother-in-law Uttamatomakkin . They sailed aboard the Treasurer , commanded by Captain Samuel Argall , and arrived in England in June 1616. They helped promote the colony and investment in the Virginia Company increased. During their visit, John Rolfe wrote "A True Relation of the State of Virginia Lefte by Sir Thomas Dale Knight in May Last 1616" The manuscript

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1536-470: The formation of a 26 ft (7.9 m) channel 600 ft (180 m) wide from Philadelphia to deep water in Delaware Bay. The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 provided for a 30-foot (9.1 m) channel 600 feet (180 m) wide from Philadelphia to the deep water of the bay. Other names for the bay have been "South Bay" and "Zuyt Baye". The bay is one of the most important navigational channels in

1584-664: The foundation for Virginia's thriving tobacco industry. The birthplace of John Rolfe, born c. 1585, remains unproven. At that time, the Spanish Empire held a virtual monopoly on the lucrative tobacco trade. Most Spanish colonies in the Americas were located in South America and the West Indies , which were more favorable to tobacco growth than their English counterparts (founded in the early 17th century, notably Jamestown in 1607). As

1632-526: The hard-to-obtain Spanish seeds he brought with him. In 1611, he was the first to commercially cultivate Nicotiana tabacum tobacco plants in North America; export of this sweeter tobacco beginning in 1612 helped turn the Virginia Colony into a profitable venture. He named his Virginia-grown strain of the tobacco "Orinoco", possibly in honour of tobacco popularizer Sir Walter Raleigh 's expeditions in

1680-505: The name given it in 1610 by Samuel Argall , after the then new Governor of Virginia, Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr . The Native American tribe living along the bay and river were later called the Delaware by the Europeans due to their location. The U.S. state also takes its name from the bay and the river. Conflicting crown grants were made to the James, Duke of York and William Penn on

1728-413: The original creation of the title, West would be the 12th Baron. As the eldest son of the 2nd Baron De La Warr, Thomas West received his education at Queen's College, Oxford . He served in the English army under Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex , and, in 1601, was charged with supporting Essex's ill-fated insurrection against Queen Elizabeth I , but acquitted of those charges. He was a Member (MP) of

1776-635: The shipwreck of the Sea Venture along with John in 1609. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, in 1620, who married John Milner of Nansemond, Virginia , and died in 1635. Rolfe died in 1622. He may have died in the Indian massacre of 1622 , but the evidence is uncertain. His widow Jane later married English Captain Roger Smith. The land given by Powhatan (now known as Smith's Fort Plantation, located in Surry County )

1824-531: The shore of the lower bay. Several of the rivers hold protected status for their salt marsh wetlands bordering the bay, which serves as a breeding ground for many aquatic species, including horseshoe crabs . The bay is also a prime oystering ground. Delaware Bay was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance on May 20, 1992. It was the first site classified in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network . While

1872-438: The voyage to Jamestown. A number of passengers and crew, however, did not complete this journey. Some had died or been killed, lost at sea (the Sea Venture's long boat had been fitted with a sail, and several men sent to take word to Jamestown, and they were never heard from again), or left behind to maintain England's claim to Bermuda. Because of this, although the Virginia Company's charter was not extended to Bermuda until 1612,

1920-613: The west bank of the bay and river. Settlement grew rapidly, leading Philadelphia , upriver on the Delaware, to become the largest city in North America in the 18th century. Penn viewed access to Delaware Bay as being so critical to Pennsylvania's survival that he engaged in an eighty-year long legal boundary dispute with the Calvert family to secure it. During the French and Indian War the dissemination of Joshua Fisher's original publication of

1968-474: Was baptized by Alexander Whitaker and chose "Rebecca" as her new baptismal name. Richard Buck officiated their wedding. Their son, Thomas Rolfe , was born in January 1615. John Rolfe and Pocahontas continued cultivating tobacco with success. In 1616 they were sent to England as guests of the Virginia Company to promote colonization and investment in Virginia. They were accompanied by baby Thomas as well as by

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2016-742: Was dispatched in 1609, carrying hundreds of new settlers and supplies across the Atlantic . Heading the Third Supply fleet was the new flagship of the Virginia Company , the Sea Venture , carrying Rolfe and his wife, Sarah. The Third Supply fleet left England in May 1609 destined for Jamestown with seven large ships, towing two smaller pinnaces . In the southern region of the North Atlantic, they encountered

2064-431: Was exported from Virginia to England in March 1614. Soon afterwards, Rolfe and others were exporting vast quantities of the new cash crop. New plantations began growing along the James River , where export shipments could use wharves along the river. Rolfe married Pocahontas , daughter of the local Native American leader Powhatan , on 5 April 1614. Earlier that same year, Pocahontas chose to convert to Christianity; she

2112-477: Was inhabited by the Native American Lenape people. They called the Delaware River "Lenape Wihittuck", which means "the rapid stream of the Lenape". Delaware Bay was called "Poutaxat", which means "near the falls". In 1523, Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón had received from Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor a grant for the land explored in 1521 by Francisco Gordillo and slave trader Captain Pedro de Quejo (de Quexo). Ayllón sent Quejo northward in 1525 and received reports of

2160-403: Was published in 1617 and further touted the viability of the colony in Virginia. After nine months in England, the party prepared to return to Virginia but was delayed by bad weather. Finally setting sail in March 1617, the party had to make port in Gravesend because Pocahontas was gravely ill. Pocahontas died and was buried at St George's Church, Gravesend on 21 March 1617. Their small son Thomas

2208-412: Was sent to England and in 1618 an additional 40,000 pounds were sent. Rolfe's letters to England in 1620 include the earliest mention of the first arrival of enslaved Africans to Virginia, who were brought by a Dutch man-of-war in August 1619 and were traded to the colony's governor for supplies. About 1619, Rolfe married Jane Pierce, daughter of English colonist Captain William Pierce, who had survived

2256-639: Was sick as well, it was determined he was too ill to survive a voyage. Pressured to return to Virginia, John Rolfe appointed Sir Lewis Stukley as temporary guardian to his son and returned to Virginia with Uttamatomakkin. Stukley had custody of Thomas Rolfe until his uncle Henry Rolfe could take over his care. It was intended that Thomas would return to Virginia once he recovered his health. Unfortunately, John Rolfe would never see his son again. Thomas did recover his health but remained in England until reaching adulthood. Rolfe returned to Virginia and resumed his work with tobacco. In 1617 20,000 pounds of Orinoco tobacco

2304-435: Was willed to Thomas Rolfe , who in 1640 sold at least a portion of it to Thomas Warren. Smith's Fort was a secondary Fort to Jamestown, begun in 1609 by John Smith. Thomas Rolfe, who had grown up in England, returned to Virginia as an adult and married Jane Poythress. Poythress's English parents were Francis Poythress and Alice Payton. Thomas and Jane Rolfe had one child, Jane Rolfe , who married Robert Bolling and had

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