Job Hartop 

1550-1595

Bourne is an unlikely place to produce a seafaring adventurer but that was to become the life of Job Hartop who was born in the town in 1550. He had a roving spirit and, tired of the monotony of life in a small farming community, ran away to London when he was 12 years old and became apprenticed to Francis Lee, the Queen's gunpowder manufacturer, and it was the experience that he acquired in this job that fitted him for a career with the navy. 

He left London when he was 17 years old and headed for the south coast hoping to find a ship and in the autumn of 1567, arrived at Plymouth where Sir John Hawkins, the English admiral, was preparing for his third voyage. He joined the crew of one of the ships in his small fleet but little realised that he was to spend ten years as a galley slave and thirteen in a Spanish prison before he would see family and friends in his home town again. Hartop probably had no idea when he signed on of the reputation of his admiral. 

His third voyage however, the one for which young Job enlisted, was disastrous. Hawkins sailed from Plymouth on 2nd October 1567 with a fleet of six ships. They included the 700-ton Jesus of Lubeck and the Minion which had been loaned by Queen Elizabeth, and four other vessels which were part of Hawkins' private venture, the William and John, the Judith, a bark of 50 tons commanded by the young Francis Drake, the Angel and the Swallow of 30 tons. 

The fleet was caught in a severe storm a few days out of Plymouth in which they lost all of their large boats and the ships were separated but they met again at the Canary islands and from there sailed to the Cape Verde Islands arriving on 18th November. A contingent of 150 men was landed to procure slaves but they were attacked by natives armed with bows and poisoned arrows. Hawkins wrote afterwards: "Although in the beginning, they seemed to be but small hurts, yet there hardly escaped any that had blood drawen of them, but died in a strange sort, with their mouths shut, some ten days before he died, and after their wounds were whole, where I myself had one of the greatest wounds, yet thanks be to God, escaped." 

Despite the hostility, they obtained a few Negro slaves and the fleet then sailed on to the coast of Guinea and Myne and by various means obtained 500 more before setting sail for the West Indies. Here, Hawkins experienced some difficulties in exchanging them for merchandise because Spain had forbidden dealings with the English but they eventually had a reasonable trade and were entertained courteously, finishing their calls at Cartagena and then departing for home on 24th July before the onset of the hurricane season. 

Towards the coast of Florida they were overtaken by a powerful storm that lasted for four days and badly damaged the Jesus which sprang a leak and was on the point of being abandoned but on 16th September managed to reach San Juan de Ulloa, the port which served New Spain (Mexico). The following day, the Spanish fleet arrived and although there were promises of friendly relations on both sides, the Spanish turned treacherous and attacked the English ships. There was fierce fighting and both sides suffered several hundred casualties. The Jesus was disabled and the William and John, the Angel and the Swallow sunk. Hawkins escaped in the Minion and Drake in the Judith, leaving 100 men who had been put ashore to the mercy of the Spaniards. Both ships returned home safely to England, arriving at Mount's Bay, Cornwall, on 25th January 1568 when Hawkins wrote to Sir William Cecil, the Principal Secretary to Queen Elizabeth I: "Our voyage was, although very hardly, well achieved and brought to reasonable passe, but now a great part of our treasure, merchandyze, shippinge and men devoured by the treason of the Spanyards." 

The disaster in the harbour of Ulloa was the subject of an inquiry in the English Admiralty Court with a view to assessing the amount of damage. The loss was very heavy and estimated at £29,000. The Spanish treachery also marked the beginning of the long quarrel with Spain which later led to open war and the attempted invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588. 

The fate of the 100 men left in the Bay of Mexico was most cruel and caused deep concern to Hawkins who had great affection for his seamen. "He promised", wrote Hartop later, "if God sent him safe home, he would do what he could, that as many of us as lived should by some means be brought back to England". Hawkins certainly intended to go out again but the news soon became known that most of his men were in the hands of the Inquisition, where entreaty was hopeless and force impossible. What could be done? Hawkins could not rest until they were rescued and so he resorted to a complicated subterfuge with the Spaniards but although this ruse had some success in its planning, it failed to rescue his unfortunate men. Some were killed by the natives, others were sent to the capital where they suffered in the most inhuman way at the hands of the Inquisition. Robert Barrett, the master of the Jesus, was burnt at the stake in Seville together with a number of other crewmen while others were left to die of hunger in the dungeons. Three men out of the 100 escaped: David Ingram who managed to secure a passage on a French ship the following year, Miles Philips, who returned to England after sixteen years and his mess mate Job Hartop who came home to Bourne after 23 years. 

Hartop's fate during those years after he and his shipmates had been left ashore has been recorded by John T Swift in his book Bourne and People Associated with Bourne published in 1920 although the accuracy of his account is questionable: "They hid themselves in the forest and then wandered into the interior, concealing themselves and hiding from the Indians, whom they knew would have no mercy on them. They forded or swam rivers, living on fish or fruit. After many months of this life, being thoroughly depressed, tired out, their powder and shot spent, they decided to surrender themselves to the Spaniards, and hoped they would have pity on them. But they soon found they had made a big mistake. The Spaniards had no pity for the hated Englishmen; the wicked heretics must receive no mercy. They were sent to work on the plantations as slaves, or as oarsmen on the Spanish ships.

Job Hartop was assigned to a galleon to work at the oars and this was to be his fate for more than a decade, chained to a bench, rarely allowed to go on land, and only then as a prisoner shackled to another slave. He lived on a meagre diet of black bread and water, slept on hard boards and was lashed unmercifully. After 12 years at the oars he was taken into the Spanish governor's house, where he worked as a drudge, doing all the mean and base work of the establishment. Fortunately for him, a Flemish ship called at their port, and being short handed, asked for some men. The governor, knowing that Job was a sailor, gave him to the captain, and so once more he went to sea. On the voyage home they were pursued by an English ship that followed them for many leagues, caught them, and summoned the Flemish ship to haul down its flag. Job Hartop making himself known to the captain, was taken on board the English ship, and in a few weeks was safely landed by the Dudley at Portsmouth." 

Another brief mention of Hartop is made by J J Davies in his book Historic Bourne, published in 1909. He describes Hartop as "an honourable even if not eminent man, with the maritime greatness and enterprise of the age of Elizabeth" and adds: "These spacious times showed few braver men than the valiant sailor Job Hartop. He fought like a true British sailor against Spaniards who captured and imprisoned him for 23 years. What long-drawn agony that meant, what faith and manly fortitude it demanded." 

On returning from his disastrous third voyage, Hawkins resided at Plymouth and was twice elected to represent the town in Parliament in 1571 and 1572. He survived an assassination attempt in 1573 and eventually became responsible for the Elizabethan navy, introducing fast ships that were better armed and improving pay and conditions for seamen. He commanded the Victory in the campaign against the Spanish Armada in 1588 and was knighted the same year and in 1595, he and Drake were appointed to the joint command of an expedition to the West Indies which was to be his last. At the age of 63, he was undoubtedly too old for a sea command and there was much dissension between the two. Off Puerto Rico on 12th November 1595, he succumbed to dysentery and was buried at sea. Drake too fell ill and died a few weeks later. He left a reputation as the architect of the new Elizabethan navy. Though his financial honesty was impugned on occasions, he defended himself convincingly and maintained a comparatively high standard of administrative integrity. He is well remembered for his ship's order: "Serve God daily, love one another, preserve your victuals, beware of fire, and keep good company." 

Hartop meanwhile, had lived to tell the tale of his startling adventures and according to Swift, after being landed at Portsmouth "was very glad after all his troubles and trials to make his way to the old town of Bourne again" where he spent the rest of his days. He died here in 1595, at the age of 45, probably through the debility brought on by his long years of privation and suffering. 

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