Sir Thomas Warner (1580 – 10 March 1649) was a captain in the guards of James I of England who became an explorer in the Caribbean. In 1620 he served at the brief-lived English settlement of

Oyapoc Oyapoc (or ''Wiapoco'') was a short-lived English settlement in French Guiana on the Oyapock river. Charles Leigh had visited the area in 1602, and considered it suitable for a colony. On returning, he assembled a crew of 46 people and embarked on t ...

in present-day Guyana of South America, which was abandoned the same year. The Dutch controlled most of the territory. Warner is noted for settling on Saint Kitts and establishing it in 1624 as the first English colony in the Caribbean.

Early life and education

Warner was born in

Suffolk, England Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

in 1580. He entered the army at an early age, which provided him with his main training. He later married and started a family with his wife, which included their son Philip. Thomas Warner had an

Island Carib The Kalinago, also known as the Island Caribs or simply Caribs, are an indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. They may have been related to the Mainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America, but they spoke an unrelated languag ...

mistress on St. Kitts, and their son was called "Indian Warner". Indian Warner was killed in the Dominica Massacre.

Military career

Warner became a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in James I's guards. In 1620 he accepted assignment to the colonies, and took his family with him to the

Colony in 1620 in today's Guyana. He served as a captain under the command of Roger North. Tomas Painton, another captain in the colony, suggested that Warner should try to colonise one of the islands in the Lesser Antilles, which Painton thought had more favourable conditions. In 1623 Warner abandoned his Guiana post and set sail North through the archipelago. Oyapoc was soon abandoned by the English.

St Kitts

Early settlement

After checking each island, Warner decided that Saint Kitts would be the best-suited site for an English colony. He noted its strategic central position ideal for expansion, friendly native population, fertile soil, abundant fresh water, and large salt deposits. He and his family landed on the island and made peace with the local ''

Kalinago The Kalinago, also known as the Island Caribs or simply Caribs, are an indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. They may have been related to the Mainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America, but they spoke an unrelated langua ...

'' people, whose leader was ''

Ouboutou Tegremante Tegremante (15?? – 1626) was the Kalinago chief on St Kitts when Thomas Warner arrived by 1623 to establish a colony. He was killed in his sleep during the Kalinago Genocide of 1626. See also *History of Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kit ...

''. They were part of the indigenous Carib people of the islands. Warner left his family on the island and returned to England to gather more men to officially establish a colony. He was supported by Ralph Merrifield, a merchant, who provided the capital, and the brothers John and Samuel Jeaffreson. The Jeaffresons agreed to bring a second vessel with settlers and supplies. Warner returned to St. Kitts on January 28, 1624, with the ''Hopewell'' and established the colony of Saint Christopher, the first English colony in the Caribbean. He established a port town at

Old Road Old Road is a town located on a roadstead in southern Antigua island in Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the ...

, downhill from Tegremante's capital village. Another name for St. Kitts is St.Christopher.

French arrival

In 1625, a French captain,

Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc Pierre Belain, sieur d'Esnambuc (; 1585–1636) was a French trader and adventurer in the Caribbean, who established the first permanent French colony, Saint-Pierre, on the island of Martinique in 1635. Biography Youth Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc w ...

, arrived on the island. He had organized a fleet of colonists hoping to establish an island colony, after hearing about the success of the English on Saint Kitts, but his fleet was destroyed by a run-in with the Spanish Armada. Only his flagship and its passengers survived to reach St. Kitts. Feeling sorry for the French colonists, Warner allowed them to settle on the island. Saint Kitts was thus the site of the first French settlement in the Caribbean. They took the ruins of the town of Dieppe, which they rebuilt. Warner accepted the French to gain more Europeans on the island, as he thought the local Kalinago were becoming less enthusiastic about the newcomers.

Kalinago genocide

Warner's concerns proved accurate. As the European population on Saint Kitts continued to increase, Tegremante grew suspicious of the foreigners. In 1626, after a secret meeting with Kalinago heads from neighbouring Waitikubuli ( Dominica) and Oualie, the natives decided to ambush the European settlements on the night of the next full moon. The plan was revealed to the Europeans by an

Igneri The Igneri were an indigenous Arawak people of the southern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. Historically, it was believed that the Igneri were conquered and displaced by the Island Caribs in an invasion some time before European contact. Howev ...

woman named Barbe. She had recently been brought to St. Kitts as a slave-wife after the Kalinago raided an

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greate ...

island. According to the French historian Jean-Baptiste Du Tertre, she despised the Kalinago and had fallen in love with Warner. The English and French joined forces and attacked the Carib at night. The colonists killed between 100 and 120 Caribs in their beds that night, with only the most beautiful Carib women spared to serve as slaves.Du Tertre (1667), I:6 The French and English set about fortifying the island against the expected invasion of Carib from other islands. According to Du Tertre, in the ensuing battle, three to four thousand Caribs took up arms against the Europeans. He did not estimate the number of Caribs killed, but said the fallen Amerindians on the beach were piled high into a mound. The English and French suffered at least 100 casualties. Others report that at

Bloody Point Bloody Point is a headland in Trinity Palmetto Point Parish, Saint Kitts. The Stone Fort or Bloody River runs towards Bloody Point. In 1626, European colonists massacred 2,000 Kalinago people The Kalinago, also known as the Island Caribs or ...

, which then was the site of the island's main Kalinago settlement, over 2,000 Kalinago men were massacred. Many had come from Waitikubuli, planning to attack the Europeans the next day. The Europeans dumped the dead into the river, at the site of the Kalinago place of worship. For weeks, blood flowed down the river, for which it was named

Bloody River Bloody River or Stone Fort River is a river or ghaut (locally called) in Saint Kitts (an island in the Caribbean) which starts from the South East Range, flows west of the village of Challengers and exits at Bloody Point. Evidence of Indian occu ...

. The Europeans deported the remaining Kalinago to Waitikubuli. The early accounts were by Europeans and told from their point of view. Modern scientists and historians estimate that many of their claims were fraudulent or exaggerated in order to justify the killings. Ethnologists have put the events into a different context. The killings occurred in late January, near the middle of the dry season. The Kalinago called this the season of "Bat man", due to the abundance of the species then. Usually, they made raids on the Taino and other Amerindians at this time to take sacrifices to appease "Bat man," to ensure the dry season ended and the wet season began. (This was called the season of "Frog woman".) Kalinago had gathered from various islands at St. Christopher at the time, because of its location: on the border between the islands controlled by different groups, it was used as a base for Kalinago raids against the Taino. Evidence of atrocity was that the Europeans killed so many and defiled the Kalinago place of worship, a means of frightening the Kalinago of neighbouring islands. After the

Kalinago Genocide of 1626 The Kalinago genocide was the massacre of an estimated 2,000 Kalinago people by English and French settlers on the island of Saint Kitts in 1626. Event In the early 17th century, the Kalinago leader Tegremond had become uneasy with the incr ...

, the Europeans partitioned the island, with the French gaining the ends,

Capisterre Capisterre (a corruption of the original French name Capesterre) is a region covering the Northern Coastal plain on the Island of Saint Kitts. It was originally colonized by the French in the early 17th century, with its capital on the only harb ...

in the North and

Basseterre Basseterre (; Saint Kitts Creole: ''Basterre'') is the capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis with an estimated population of 14,000 in 2018. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kitt ...

in the south; and the British gaining the centre. Both groups colonised neighbouring islands from their bases. The English settled Nevis (1628),

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barb ...

(1632), and

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with roughly of coastline. It is n ...

(1632). Warner was appointed as Governor of St. Kitts, Nevis,

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

and Montserrat in 1625. The French colonised Martinique (1635), the Guadeloupe archipelago (1635), and St Barts (1648). In 1643 Warner was appointed as Parliamentary Governor of the Caribee Islands. After his first wife died, he was said to have taken a Carib woman in a 'common-law marriage' and they had a lasting relationship. Warner died on March 10, 1649, in St. Kitts and was buried in a tomb in Middle Island. The Carib woman was reported to have given birth to many other children after Warner's death.

Slave trade

After the Kalinago Genocide of 1626 and the subsequent partitioning of the island, Warner imported many thousands of African slaves for labour. They were forced to develop and work on large sugar and tobacco plantations to raise commodity crops for export. As the years passed, Sir Thomas Warner amassed a wealth that would amount to over £100 million in today's terms. He died on March 10, 1649, in St. Kitts, and he was buried in a tomb in Middle Island.

References

External links

Interesting sites on Saint Kitts and Nevis
University

Ancestry UK
Sir Thomas Warner
BBC {{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Thomas 1580 births 1649 deaths English emigrants History of British Saint Christopher and Nevis Governors of British Saint Christopher Governors of Antigua and Barbuda Governors of Nevis People from Saint Thomas Middle Island Parish

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...