September 19 - Explorer Thomas Cavendish and his circumnavigation

On this day in Tudor history, 19th September 1560, explorer, navigator and privateer Thomas Cavendish was baptised at St Martin's Church, Trimley St Martin in Suffolk. 

Cavendish is known for his imitation of Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, which he undertook in 1586, and for being the first Englishman to explore the island of St Helena, in the mid-Atlantic, but he also had a reputation as a spendthrift and his final voyage was a failure.

 

Find out more about Thomas Cavendish in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, author of several Tudor history books.

 

Also on this day in Tudor history, 19th September 1555, in the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary I, Protestants Robert Glover and Cornelius Bungey, were burned at the stake for heresy in Coventry. They were two of twelve martyrs burned in the city between 1511 and 1555. Find out more about them and Glover's experience as he was taken to the site of execution in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/zgwbWZpMqUM