Richard Tomson | |
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Nationality | British |
Occupation | Mariner |
Richard Tomson (fl. 1588) was a British mariner.
Tomson may presumably be identified with the Richard Tomson of Yarmouth (July 1570; State Papers, Dom. Eliz., lxxiii. 151), nephew of John Tomson of Sherringham. The mother of this Richard Tomson was an Antwerp woman, and one of her Flemish nephews, James Fesser, was a shipowner at Beeston. These Fessers, again, were cousins of John Fisher of Cley. Richard Tomson was for some years engaged in the Mediterranean trade, and in 1582 was involved in litigation with the Turkey company. He was also part owner of the Jesus of London, which was captured and taken to Algiers (ib. clxxviii. 83–4), to which in 1583 Tomson made a voyage to ransom the prisoners. In January 1588 he was in Flanders, and was there solicited by some Spaniards to undertake the delivery of a great quantity of iron ordnance, for which he would be handsomely paid. He refused their offer, and, knowing that the ordnance was for furnishing the Armada, informed Francis Walsingham of it, so that he might prevent the export. He appears to have corresponded confidentially with Walsingham, and may have been a kinsman of Laurence Tomson, Walsingham's secretary. In the summer of 1588 he was lieutenant of the Margaret and John, a merchant ship commanded by Captain John Fisher against the Armada, and mentioned as closely engaged with the galleon of D. Pedro de Valdes during the night after the first battle, in the battle of 23 July, in the capture of the galleass at Calais, and in the battle of Gravelines, of which he wrote an interesting account to Walsingham (Defeat of the Spanish Armada, Navy Records Society, freq.) Afterwards he was employed to negotiate with Don Pedro and other prisoners as to the terms of their ransom. On 3 April 1593 he wrote to Lord Burghley as to a permission lately given for the export of ordnance. This, he suspected, was for the Spaniards, and might cause trouble (State Papers, Dom. Eliz., ccxliv. 116). Towards the end of the century he was living in London, corresponding occasionally with Robert Cecil. It is possible that he was the Captain Tomson with the notorious pirate Peter Easton in 1611-12 (ib. James I, lx. 16; Docquet, 6 Feb. 1612); but the name is too common to render any identification certain.
1588 (MDLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1588th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 588th year of the 2nd millennium, the 88th year of the 16th century, and the 9th year of the 1580s decade. As of the start of 1588, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham, KG, known as Lord Howard of Effingham, was an English statesman and Lord High Admiral under Elizabeth I and James I. He was commander of the English forces during the battles against the Spanish Armada and was chiefly responsible for the victory that saved England from invasion by the Spanish Empire.
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Sir Edward Osborne (1530?–1591), was one of the principal merchants of London in the later sixteenth century, and Lord Mayor of London in 1583.
The Sea Dogs were a group of English privateers and explorers authorised by Queen Elizabeth I to raid England's enemies, whether they were formally at war with them or not. Active from 1560 until Elizabeth's death in 1603, the Sea Dogs primarily attacked Spanish targets both on land and at sea, particularly during the Anglo-Spanish War. Members of the Sea Dogs, including Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake, also engaged in illicit slave trading with Spanish colonies in the Americas.
The Battle of Berlengas Islands was a naval battle which took place off the Portuguese coast on 15 July 1591, during the war between Elizabeth I of England and Philip II of Spain. It was fought between an English privateer squadron under George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, who had set out his fortunes by large-scale privateering, and a squadron of 5 Spanish galleys commanded by Francisco Coloma tasked with patrolling the Portuguese coast against privateers. While anchored off the Berlengas, the English ships were surprised by the Spanish galleys, which succeeded in taking one English ship and rescuing two prizes.
The Battle of Flores was a naval engagement during the Brittany Campaign of the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585 fought off the Island of Flores between an English fleet of 22 ships under Lord Thomas Howard and a Spanish fleet of 55 ships under Alonso de Bazán. Sent to the Azores to capture the annual Spanish treasure convoy, when a stronger Spanish fleet appeared off Flores, Howard ordered his ships to flee to the north, saving all of them except the galleon Revenge commanded by Admiral Sir Richard Grenville.
The Conquest of the Azores, but principally involving the conquest of the island of Terceira, occurred on 2 August 1583, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, between forces loyal to the claimant D. António, Prior of Crato, supported by the French and English troops, and the Spanish and Portuguese forces loyal to King Philip II of Spain, commanded by the Admiral Don Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis of Santa Cruz, during the War of the Portuguese Succession. The victory of the Marquis of Santa Cruz resulted in the rapid Spanish conquest of the Azores, facilitating the integration of the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial possessions into the Spanish Empire.
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Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Stayner (1625–1662) was an English naval officer who supported the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War and the Interregnum. During the First Anglo-Dutch War he commanded the Foresight in actions at Portland, the Gabbard and in the Battle of Scheveningen. During the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660), he won renown and a fortune in prize money when he captured a great part of the Spanish West Indian treasure fleet off Cadiz in 1656. He was knighted by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell for services in Admiral Robert Blake's destruction of Spanish ships at Santa Cruz, 1657. He was a rear-admiral of the fleet which brought Charles II to England in 1660. He was again knighted at the Restoration. He died at Lisbon, while serving as vice-admiral of the Mediterranean fleet.
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John Cecil, alias John Snowden was an English Roman Catholic priest, diplomat, spy and political adventurer.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Laughton, John Knox (1899). "Tomson, Richard". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co.