Nicholas Woodcock (c. 1585 - after June 1658?) was a 17th-century English mariner who sailed to
Spitsbergen,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and Asia. He piloted the first Spanish
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industr ...
ship to Spitsbergen in 1612 and participated in the Anglo-Persian sieges of
Kishm and
Ormus
The Kingdom of Ormus (also known as Hormoz; fa, هرمز; pt, Ormuz) was located in the eastern side of the Persian Gulf and extended as far as Bahrain in the west at its zenith. The Kingdom was established in 11th century initially as a dep ...
in 1622.
Life
Spitsbergen, 1610–1618
A man of the same name was sent on an expedition to the
River Ob
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
by the
Muscovy Company
The Muscovy Company (also called the Russia Company or the Muscovy Trading Company russian: Московская компания, Moskovskaya kompaniya) was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint s ...
in 1568. Seeing as how this name is not common, it is possible that Woodcock may have been a son or grandson of this namesake.
In 1610, he served as mate aboard the Muscovy Company ship ''Amity'' (60 tons) on a sealing and exploratory voyage to Spitsbergen. In 1611, Purchas (1625) states that it was he who suggested to the
Muscovy Company
The Muscovy Company (also called the Russia Company or the Muscovy Trading Company russian: Московская компания, Moskovskaya kompaniya) was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint s ...
that six
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
whalers from the town of
St Jean de Luz, who had experience in the Terranova whale fishery, should be shipped the following season. Using his advice, the company sent these six whalers, as well as the ''Mary Margaret'' (150 tons),
Steven Bennet, master, and the ''Elizabeth'' (60 tons),
Jonas Poole, master, to Spitsbergen in 1611- the first voyage made to the island to hunt what was called the
Greenland right whale (''Balaena mysticetus''). Angry over the fact he wasn't chosen to go on this expedition, he shipped aboard an interloping vessel from
Hull, the ''Hopewell'',
Thomas Marmaduke, master.
In 1612, Woodcock piloted the first whaleship from
San Sebastian, under Juan de Erauso, to Spitsbergen. Although he was sent to the gatehouse and tower for sixteen months for leading the Spanish ship thither, it was the success of this voyage that induced a fleet of ships to sail from the Basque country and northern France the following season (1613).
In 1614 Woodcock returned to whaling. He was forced to serve under the Muscovy Company, which had been given a monopoly on the trade the previous year. He sailed as master of the ''Prosperous'', which resorted to Sir Thomas Smith Bay (
Forlandsundet
Forlandsundet is an 88 km long sound separating Prins Karls Forland and Spitsbergen. Its northern limits are Fuglehuken to the west and Kvadehuken to the east. Its southern limits are Salpynten to the west and Daudmannsodden to the east.
Refer ...
) and Cross Road (Ebeltofthamna). In the latter area he established a temporary whaling station. In 1617 Woodcock is mentioned by the Danish as being a master of an English ship in Green Harbor (
Grønfjorden
Grønfjorden (English: Green Fjord or Green Harbour) is a 16 km long fjord, separated from Isfjorden to the north by Festningsodden in the west and Heerodden in the east. It lies within the western portion of Nordenskiöld Land. On its eas ...
). He is last mentioned in Spitsbergen in 1618, when he was master of the interloper ''Sea Horse''.
East India Company, 1621–1623
![Fortress of Hormuz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Fortress_of_Hormuz.jpg)
In 1622, Woodcock was among those present in the Anglo-Persian attack on Kishm (23 January – 1 February) and siege of Ormus (9 February – 23 April), in which he was master of the ''Whale'', vice-admiral of the nine ship English fleet. He was accused of having "gotten an unknown booty at Ormus", which he vehemently denied, but was later found guilty of (November 1624). Woodcock is mentioned in the travels of
Pietro Della Valle as master of the same vessel, in which Della Valle sailed from
Bandar Abbas
Bandar Abbas or Bandar-e ‘Abbās ( fa, , , ), is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on the southern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf. The city occupies a strategic position on the narrow Strait of Hormuz (just across from Musand ...
to
Surat in January 1623. Della Valle said that Woodcock had spent over a year with his ship in the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
, charting the
Strait of Hormuz and adjacent areas for suitable anchorages. On 22 January (OS), while standing on the deck of the ship, Woodcock showed Della Valle what he believed to be a piece of
unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead.
In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...
horn (in fact a piece of the tusk of a
narwhal), which he had found in Greenland (Spitsbergen) in 1611. Woodcock boastfully claimed to have been the first Christian to name and discover this country of Greenland the same year he had found the above-mentioned horn. Woodcock lost the ''Whale'' in March between
Surat and
Daman on his way to
Mocha. Many of the crew drowned, among them his son, Richard. He also lost his whole estate. Woodcock was accused of having contributed to the loss of the ''Whale'' by taking out ballast and overloading the ship. Woodcock was in England from 1624 to 1626. In November 1626, at his request, he was acquitted and discharged by the Court. In May 1635 he was master of the ''Revenge'' of London, which loaded tobacco, skins and other goods in Virginia from Richard Bennett. At the time he was said to be a sailor of 50 years of age who resided at
Wapping
Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
.
[Coldham (1984), p. 54.]
A will, dated 3 June 1658, is preserved in the Records of the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
of a certain "Nicholas Woodcocke of
King's Cliffe
King's Cliffe (variously spelt Kings Cliffe, King's Cliff, Kings Cliff, Kingscliffe) is a village and civil parish on Willow Brook, a tributary of the River Nene, about northeast of Corby in North Northamptonshire. The parish adjoins the count ...
, Northamptonshire", which may or may not belong to the same Nicholas Woodcock.
Legacy
Woodcock is one of the most important figures in the first phase of
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industr ...
in Spitsbergen (i.e. bay whaling), as he was not only the one to suggest shipping Basques for the first whaling voyage to Spitsbergen in 1611, but he led the first Basque vessel to Spitsbergen the following year. It was the success of the latter voyage that led to a boom on the trade in Spitsbergen. His suggestion led to the Basques being recruited not only by the English in later years, but by the Dutch, northern French, and Danish, all who relied on Basque experts in the opening years of the Spitsbergen fishery.
Footnotes
References
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*Purchas, S. 1625. Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas His Pilgrimes: Contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Lande Travells by Englishmen and others. Volumes XIII and XIV (Reprint 1906 J. Maclehose and sons).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodcock
Year of death missing
English explorers
English sailors
British people in whaling
17th-century explorers
British East India Company people
17th-century English people
History of the Arctic
Explorers of Svalbard
Year of birth uncertain