Edward Fenton (died 1603) was an English

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...

, son of Henry Fenton and Cicely Beaumont and brother of Sir

Geoffrey Fenton Sir Geoffrey Fenton (c. 1539 – 19 October 1608) was an English writer, Privy Councillor, and Principal Secretary of State in Ireland. Early literary years Geoffrey (spelt Jeffrey by Lodge) was born in 1539, the son of Henry Fenton of Sturton-l ...

. He was also a publisher of diaries and journals.

Biography

He was a native of

Sturton-le-Steeple Sturton le Steeple is a village located east of Retford, Nottinghamshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population (including Littleborough, Notts) of 497, reducing slightly to 486 as at the 2011 Census. Origin of the name The ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. His mother belonged to a prominent

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

family whose seat was at

Coleorton Hall Coleorton Hall is a 19th-century country mansion, formerly the seat of the Beaumont baronets of Stoughton Grange. Situated at Coleorton, Leicestershire, it is a Grade II* listed building now converted into residential apartments. The manor of Cole ...

. In 1577 he sailed, in command of the ''Gabriel'', with Sir

Martin Frobisher Sir Martin Frobisher (; c. 1535 – 22 November 1594) was an English seaman and privateer who made three voyages to the New World looking for the North-west Passage. He probably sighted Resolution Island near Labrador in north-eastern Canada ...

's second expedition for the discovery of the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

, and in the following year he took part as second in command in Frobisher's third expedition, his ship being the ''Judith''. He was then employed in Ireland for a time, but in 1582 he was put in charge of an expedition which was to sail round the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

to the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

and China, his instructions being to obtain any knowledge of the northwest passage that was possible without hindrance to his trade. For this voyage he was in charge of two warships, the ''Galleon Leicester'' and the ''Edward Bonaventure''. On this unsuccessful voyage he got no farther than

Portuguese Brazil Colonial Brazil ( pt, Brasil Colonial) comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Duri ...

, and although defeating a Spanish fleet just off São Vicente he was unable to trade with the Portuguese residents there. To add to his woes he was engaged in quarrelling with his officers, and especially with his lieutenant, William Hawkins, the nephew of Sir

John Hawkins John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, whom he had in irons when he arrived back in the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

Richard Madox Richard Madox (11 November 1546 – 27 February 1583)Oxford DNB was an English explorer, who served as a chaplain aboard Edward Fenton's voyage headed for the Moluccas and China in 1582. He died during the voyage, but left a diary which has been r ...

, who sailed as chaplain, kept a diary of the voyage for the whole year 1582 which has been published. In 1588 he had command of the ''

Mary Rose The ''Mary Rose'' (launched 1511) is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She served for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her l ...

'', (not the preserved vessel), one of the ships of the fleet that was formed to oppose the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

. He died 15 years afterwards, and was buried in St Nicholas's Church in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

Personal life

Edward Fenton was married to Thomasina, daughter of Benjamin Gonson the Elder, and was brother-in-law to Sir John Hawkins, who married Katherine Gonson, Thomasina's sister. The mother of the girls, wife of Benjamin, was Ursula, daughter of

Anthony Hussey Anthony Hussey, Esquire, (c.1496 – 1560) (also written Huse, Hussie, etc.) was an English merchant and lawyer who was President Judge of the High Court of Admiralty under Henry VIII, before becoming Principal Registrar to the Archbishops of ...

.C.S. Knighton, D. M. Loades (Eeds.), ''The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I'' (Ashgate Publishing, 2011), Appendix 2: Biographical Notices, 'Benjamin Gonson (I)', pp. 545–46.

Notes

References

* Elizabeth Story Donno, ed., ''An Elizabethan in 1582: The Diary of Richard Madox, Fellow of All Souls''. Hakluyt Society/Cambridge University Press, 1976 * E. R. G. Taylor, ''The Troublesome Voyage of Captain Edward Fenton 1582–83''. Hakluyt Society/Cambridge University Press, 1959.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenton, Edward English explorers Year of birth unknown 1603 deaths People of Elizabethan Ireland People from Nottinghamshire 16th-century Royal Navy personnel 16th-century English writers