RAH FOR HAKLUYT!!!
Let's hear a three-fold cheer for Richard Hakluyt!
Or, perhaps, you'd rather not raise a ruckus on behalf of someone you don't know; possibly never heard about. That's good logic. He certainly hasn't been in the news recently; has run for office, robbed a pizza shop, or been accused of murdering rock concert fans.
You are not alone if you don't recognize the signature of Richard Hakluyt. Like Smucker's fine collection of caloric products he has to have been good with a name like the one. To remember the name just misspell “hack” as “hak” and then append your very best misspelling of “lute” as “luyt.” There! Got it? He was originally from Hereforshire – originally of Welsh background - where he was said to be one of those “Hack-loot” boys.
He was an historical figure.
Because Richard Hakluyt lived back in the time of discovery and early settlement of the new world area. He was the one person who did the most to bring the varied assortment of information available to the attention of the Royal family of England and to the merchants, bankers, and others able to participate in developing commerce with a “new”England he envisioned to be an urgent project. He urged Royal concern for the planned colonial plans which Sir Walter Raleigh, had hoped to establish. Richard Hakluyt, who had worked in Paris for half a decade, was aware of the plans of both the not-so-secret plans by Spanish and French governments to exclude England from the development of the new world.
In 1584 Hakluyt placed before Queen Elizabeth I a copy of his “Discourse” outlining the entire project. He discussed the discovery rights The British held to great expanses the New World and gave basically a twenty-three point analysis of the reasons for undertaking settlement of the new world promptly. One of the maps placed before the Queen was the first in which the name "Virginia" appeared, ...probably intended to met the eye of the “Virgin Queen”. Hakluyt, received a vacant “living”in Bristol in l586, which he held with several other preferments until his death in 1616. It i interesting to note that, so firm was his belief that the colonies in the New World that he, in 1605, applied for and received the prospective living set to become available when James Town became the capital of the new colony in Virginia. The benefice was supplied, too, in 1607 when he appointed one Robert Hunt as Curator at that post.
We owe a great debt to Richard Hakluyt in so many ways. He compiled the information gained by scores of not too thoughtful and methodically-minded explorers, adventurers. fisherman, and a few egotist-mariners among them, as well... and placed the information they had gathered in a useful form before the right people.
Without Richard Hakluyt the French and Spanish intentions may well have taken over the area and we would not be here in Virginia today. He died in 1616 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. In his lifetime, due to the numerous prebendary and living posts he held, Hakluyt died a “wealthy man”. He build a fortune and his son squandered it all. We, probably can be said to squander the wealth of the fine heritage he left to us, as well, by not remembering all that he did on our behalf.
A.L.M. December 8, 2004 [c575wds]
