Sir Humphrey Gilbert
(1539-1583)

Knight Bachelor (from 1569)

Died aged 44

Wikidata Wikipedia

Commemorated on 2 plaques

Born at Greenway on the Dart, he became a courtier in Queen Elizabeth I's reign and served in France and Ireland. In 1566 he wrote a discourse promoting a north-west passage to China. Sir Humphrey Gilbert 1539-1583 In 1583 he colonised Newfoundland thus founding Britian's Overseas Empire. He was later lost at sea crying out "We are as near to heaven by sea as by land"

Bayard's Cove, Dartmouth, United Kingdom where they was

From Plymouth Sound on June 14 1585 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, "the father of British Colonisation", set sail for Newfoundland and which he claimed for Queen Elizabeth I on 5th August.

, Plymouth, United Kingdom where they set sail (1585)