Misplaced Pages

MasterRobert Tyndall
Historical marker for Tyndall's Point, Virginia
Other names	Robarte Tindall (Latin), "Captain Tindol" "Master Thomas Sedan" (see Identity)
Occupation(s)	Mariner, surveyor
Known for	Mapping environs of Jamestown, Virginia

Robert Tyndall or Tindall (fl. 1608) was a mariner (sea captain) and a surveyor in the Colony of Virginia. He is notable for sailing to Virginia several times, and exploring the Chesapeake Bay, coastlines, and rivers with Christopher Newport, John Smith, and Samuel Argall.

Before Virginia

Robert Tyndall was a mariner who traveled with the original colonists to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.

Surveying Virginia

In May, 1607, Robert Tyndall accompanied Christopher Newport and John Smith, aboard the Discovery in surveying of the coastline and rivers.

Near Turkey Island (James River), an unnamed native drew the English a map of the area which became the beginning of the "Tyndall draughte map". Tyndall mapped the York River during a journey to Werowocomoco with Newport in February, 1608. This map is the first of its kind by a colonist of Jamestown. Samuel Purchas and others used this map as a source for future Virginia charts.

Tyndall, employed as a surveyor for the Virginia Company of London, was called a "Gunner to Prince Henry", and wrote letters about Virginia to his sponsor, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. In 1608, he included a map:

"...draughte of our River, hear inclosed, by us discovered..."

This map and letter were delivered to the Virginia Company of London when Captain Newport returned to England in late 1608.

Tyndall's Point (across the river from Yorktown, Virginia, now called Gloucester Point) was originally named in Robert's honour. Tyndall's Point Park still bears his name and has historical markers. "Tindall's Shoals" (on the map) is Mulberry Island area. Tyndall identifies the now-named York River as "Prince Henneri His River", and upriver is "Poetan" (Powhatan) near Purtan Bay, which is the village of Werowocomoco.

Later adventures

In 1609, Tyndall, back in England, captained the Mary and John with Samuel Argall for a faster, more direct route to Virginia colony. Francisco Fernández de Écija, captain of the Spanish La Asunsión de Cristo (a small zabra, an inshore exploration vessel), was tasked with the "matter of Virginia", to gather information on the English colony's strength. In Chesapeake Bay, the Mary and John intercepted the smaller ship and prevented it from entering the James River and discovering the status of Jamestown. The Mary and John returned to England by October, 1609.

Robert Tyndall and Argall again sailed with the Jamestown supply missions flotilla of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr from England, arriving at Cape Henry at the end of Starving Time, intercepting colonists abandoning the settlement. Tyndall was tasked with a fishing expedition on Virginia to help feed the starving English.

Identity

Francisco Maguel, an "Irishman" who returned from Virginia to England in 1608, attributed a "Captain Tindol" in a report as being a Catholic sympathizer, but this moniker actually referred to either the deposed Councilor Edward Maria Wingfield or the mutineer Councilor George Kendall Both Kendall and Wingfield were suspected spies for the Spanish Empire--it is doubtful that Robert Tyndall (under the employ of the Prince of Wales and the Virginia Company) would be involved with Spain.

John Smith mentions in Generall Historie of Virginia that Samuel Argall sailed with a "Master Thomas Sedan", which is likely Master Robert Tyndall. There is speculation that Smith didn't want to name a rival cartographer.

See also

• Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail

Notes

1. Barbour, Philip L. “Captain George Kendall: Mutineer or Intelligencer?” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 70, no. 3, 1962, pp. 297–313. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4246865. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
2. ^ "she-philosopher.com: Gallery exhibit (1608 Chart of James River)". www.she-philosopher.com.
3. Brown, Alexander. The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records Then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories Then Licensed by the Crown. United States, Houghton, 1898.
4. "Jamestown Colony 1606". packrat-pro.com.
5. Brown, Alexander. The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records Then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories Then Licensed by the Crown. United States, Houghton, 1898.
6. ^ Mook, Maurice A. “The Ethnological Significance of Tindall’s Map of Virginia, 1608.” The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, vol. 23, no. 4, 1943, pp. 371–408. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1923191. Accessed 6 Nov. 2024.
7. Ford, Worthington Chauncey. “Captain John Smith’s Map of Virginia, 1612.” Geographical Review, vol. 14, no. 3, 1924, pp. 433–43. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/208424. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
8. "The Genesis of the United States; v 1". 1890.
9. The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories then Licensed by the Crown. Houghton. 1898. ISBN 978-0-7222-6545-1.
10. Verner, Coolie. “The First Maps of Virginia, 1590-1673.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 58, no. 1, 1950, pp. 3–15. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4245671. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
11. Tindall, Robert. "Letter from Robert Tindall to Prince Henry (June 22, 1607)". Encyclopedia Virginia.
12. "Mary Margaret 1607, 1608". packrat-pro.com.
13. http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/hiway_markers/images/3237_1.jpg
14. ^ "Werowocomoco". powhatan.wm.edu.
15. The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories then Licensed by the Crown. Houghton. 1898. ISBN 978-0-7222-6545-1.
16. Connor, Seymour V. “Sir Samuel Argall: A Biographical Sketch.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 59, no. 2, 1951, pp. 162–75. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4245766. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
17. The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories then Licensed by the Crown. Houghton. 1898. ISBN 978-0-7222-6545-1.
18. ^ Barbour, Philip L. "Captain George Kendall: Mutineer or Intelligencer?" The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 70, no. 3, 1962, pp. 297–313. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4246865. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.

• People from colonial Virginia
• 17th-century English explorers
• History of Virginia