The Fate of the Sea Venture 1609-1610

The Fate of the Sea Venture 1609-1610

Bruce

George Yeardley was a survivor of the ill-fated voyage of the Sea Venture, shipwrecked in Bermuda for 10 months. The Sea Venture was the flagship of the London Company’s third supply mission to the Colony but was challenged by storm at sea. The Starving Time was in part due to the shipwreck as the supplies were expected 10 months earlier, the time delay resulting from the wreck. The Third Supply Mission from England to Jamestown consisted of five to six hundred people in a fleet of eight ships. The ships ran into a massive hurricane on July 25th and were separated. One by one several of the eight ships made their way to the James bringing more colonists than supplies as the flagship carried the bulk of the supplies and was taking on water for four days after the storm due to damage sustained in the hurricane. The Captain of the Sea Venture made the decision to deliberately run aground sailing into the reefs at Discovery Bay off the Bermuda Shore. Around August 7 all of the 150 passengers had safely made land but their fate was unknown to the others of the fleet. Two new ships were built of Bermuda cedar and salvage from the wreck over the next nine months. The ships were readied for sea but May 10, 1610 and set sail on the 20th. Without the leadership which resided on the Sea Venture, as well as nearly all the supplies, the rest of the group floundered in Jamestown along with those already there. They were ill-prepared to survive, majorly contributing in the “Starving Time”.

Later we will discover how George Yeardley was a remarkable contributor to the development of the Colonial culture and governance with Virginia and how his life meshed with the fate of the Combs Family, but now Jeremiah Lorenzo will give us a look at the difficulties presented during the “Starving Time” as handed down through the family lore.