David Kirke

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Sir David Kirke (c. 1597 – 1654) was an Scottish adventurer, colonizer and governor. Kirke was raised in English occupied Dieppe.

In 1627 Kirke's father and several London merchants formed a company to encourage trade and settlement on the St. Lawrence River. France and England were at war (see: Thirty Years' War) and the Kirke family took it upon themselves to expel the French from North America

Kirke and his brothers captured Tadoussac in 1628 and demanded that Samuel de Champlain surrender Quebec to the English. When his demand was refused he captured a French supply fleet near Gaspé.

Kirke returned in 1629 and received the French surrender of Quebec but was ordered to return the colony to the French in 1632 as King Charles I of England had agreed to return France's territories after Louis XIII paid his wife's dowry. As a consolation, Kirke was knighted in 1633 and in 1637 he and his partners were given a royal charter giving them possession of Newfoundland with Kirke as Proprietary Governor. This charter superseding an earlier charter that granted the Avalon Peninsula of the island to George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore as Baltimore was deemed to have abandoned his colony.

Kirke took possession of Ferryland ejecting William Hill, who had been proprietary governor on behalf of Cæcilius Calvert, who had succeeded as Baron Baltimore on the death of his father. Kirke as governor of Newfoundland soon came into conflict with the fishing merchants of western England, who were intent on preserving their control of the Grand Banks fisheries by excluding settlement from the island. Using the labours of about 100 colonists, erected forts at Ferryland, St. John’s, and Bay de Verde, and collected tolls from all fishing vessels. Kirke was recalled to England in 1651 on charges of violating the charter and not handing over taxes he had collected on behalf of the government. He was found not guilty. Calvert, meanwhile, went to court to challenge Kirke's charter and his seizure of the Province of Avalon and Kirke was imprisoned and is thought to have died in jail.

In return for capturing Nova Scotia and Quebec for the English in 1628, Sir David Kirke was granted a Coat of Arms. His arms were long since forgotten but were rediscovered and were adopted as the official Coat of Arms of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1928.

Preceded by: William Hill

Governor of Newfoundland 1638 – 1651

Followed by: John Treworgie

[edit] External links

• Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online