biography
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1564–1620)
|
| biography:
| Navigator, born in Gillingham, Kent, SE England, UK. He took service with the Dutch in 1598, and reached Japan in 1600. The first Englishman to visit Japan, he was cast into prison as a pirate at the instigation of jealous Portuguese traders, but was freed after building two fine ships for Shogun Ieyasu, receiving a pension, the rank of samurai, and ‘living like unto a lordship in England’ (1600–20). |
|
|
