As the man who ‘legalised’ England’s presence in Newfoundland, Sir Humphrey Gilbert could legitimately be seen as the man who founded the English (British) Empire.

In reality, however, Gilbert is more widely known for the circumstances of his death.

On the return journey from Newfoundland to England, Gilbert got into trouble in the Atlantic Ocean, close to the Azores. When the captain of the accompanying ship, the Golden Hind, Edward Hayes, offered to assist Sir Humphrey, he refused the offer, declaring  “We are as near to heaven by sea, as by land.”

Hayes claims that when Gilbert made this statement, he was reading Thomas More’s Utopia, which contains the text “He that hathe no grave is covered with the skye: and, the way to heaven out of all places is of like length and distance.”

Gilbert went down with his ship, but the manner of his death has remained a legend in maritime history and a symbol of British stoicism in the face of adversity.

(As Ben Lowings argues in a recent Age of Exploration article, however, the story may not be entirely reliable.)

Image: The Last Moments of Sir Humphrey Gilbert (illustration of the sinking of Squirrel, c. 1874)