Sir George Peckham (died 1608) was an English merchant venturer.

Life

He was third son of

Sir Edmund Peckham ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

. George succeeded to the paternal estate at Denham, and was knighted in 1570. In 1572 he was appointed

High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. One sheriff was appointed for both counties from 1125 until the end of 1575 (except for 1165–1166), after which separate sheriffs were appointed. See High Sheriff of Bedfordshire an ...

. In 1574 he, together with Sir Humphrey Gilbert,

Sir Richard Grenville Sir Richard Grenville (15 June 1542 – 10 September 1591), also spelt Greynvile, Greeneville, and Greenfield, was an English privateer and explorer. Grenville was lord of the manors of Stowe, Cornwall and Bideford, Devon. He subsequently ...

, and

Christopher Carleill Christopher Carleill ( 15511593) was an English military and naval commander. Life Born about 1551, he was the son of Alexander Carleill, citizen and vintner of London, by his wife Anne, daughter of Sir George Barne. After Alexander's death, C ...

, petitioned the queen to allow them an expedition into unknown lands. In the enterprise, which finally took form in 1583, Peckham alongside Thomas Gerard was the chief adventurer, Gilbert assigning to him large grants of land and liberty of trade. In November 1583 he published ''A True Reporte''.''A true reporte of the late discoveries and possession taken . . . of the Newfound-landes . . . Wherein is also breefely sette downe her highnesse lawfull Tytle thereunto, and the great and manifolde commodities that is likely to grow thereby to the whole Realme in generall, and to the adventurers in particular. . . .'' It is reprinted in

Richard Hakluyt Richard Hakluyt (; 1553 – 23 November 1616) was an English writer. He is known for promoting the English colonization of North America through his works, notably ''Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America'' (1582) and ''The Pri ...

's ''Principal Navigations'', iii. 165. A major factor behind this plan was to allow

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

to emigrate following the increase of fines imposed on those who failed to attend

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

services in 1581. Whether by unsuccessful ventures or otherwise, he afterwards became embarrassed in his circumstances, and in 1595 the estate and manor of Denham came to the queen by reason of his debt to the crown. They were conferred on William Bowyer. He died in 1608. He married, in 1554, Susan, daughter and heiress of Henry Webbe. She died in childbed, at the age of seventeen, on 11 December 1555. By a second wife two sons are mentioned: Edmund the elder, who would seem to have predeceased him; and George, who was his heir.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peckham, George Year of birth missing 16th-century births 1608 deaths 16th-century merchants 17th-century merchants English merchants 16th-century English businesspeople 17th-century English businesspeople High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire High Sheriffs of Buckinghamshire