Sir Thomas Button Early Career Details

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Admiral of the Narrow Seas

For most of his career Button was Admiral of the Narrow Seas, that is the Bristol Channel and the whole of Southern Ireland. He protected vessels and coastal communities from pirates as well as the many ships from Bristol, Bideford and Barnstaple from the Bristol Channel-North Devon area; Plymouth, Dartmouth, Teignmouth, Topsham and Exmouth from South Devon; Weymouth and Poole in Dorset; Southampton in Hampshire, and London en route to and from the fishing grounds of Newfoundland each year. Whitbourne estimated some 250 vessels with an aggregate bulk of 150,000 tons went out and back in 1615 alone, involving up to 5,000 men and fish worth nearly £135,000^[1].

By 1601, during the Spanish invasion of Ireland^[2], Button was captain of the Queen’s pinnace Moon conveying munitions and food from Dublin to the fleet during the siege of Kinsale, County Cork. A pinnace was a small, fast, maneuverable vessel of around 20 tones, usually square rigged with two or three masts. They were used for scouting along a coast in shallow, treacherous waters and for bearing messages between ships of the fleet. During the bombardment of Rincorran Castle he blockaded the harbor^[3] and held back the entire seaborne force at one point in the battle. For this he was commended for gallantry and award a pension of 6s. 8d per day for life^[4].

In August 1602 he relocated to the West Indies as a privateer commanding the Wylloby. This vessel was jointly owned by his uncle by marriage Sir Robert Mansel, treasurer of the navy and Sir John Trevor, surveyor of the navy. Button returned in March 1603 and reportedly brought ‘3 millions of gold’^[5].

Button took up his career with successive naval commands following this venture. The climate of corruption and fraud that was rampant during this time dogged Button to the end of his days^[6]. Button engaged in the common practice of hiring understrength to render a surplus of wages and supplies. He was charged with aiding the escape of a pirate who rewarded him with two chests of sugar which Button sold for 42 pounds. He and others were the subjects of a fraud investigation in 1608; although there was convincing evidence, all of the accused were not punished^[7].

Return to the main page, click Sir Thomas Button: Thomas Button (abt.1565-1634).

Sources

1. ↑ Whitbourne , Richard, 1622, edited and illustrated by Thomas Whitburn, 1870, Westward Hoe for Avalon in the New-found-land, Sampson Low, Son , and Marston, London, p.20, American Geographical Society of New York. Bulletin. Vol. 16. The Society., 1884, retrieved through Google Scholar, Oct 17, 2022
2. ↑ Silke, John J. Spain and the Invasion of Ireland, 1601-2 Irish Historical Studies, Vol. 14, No. 56 (Sep., 1965), pp. 295-312 (18 pages), Cambridge University Press
3. ↑ Thrush, Andrew (2004), "Button, Sir Thomas (c.1575–1634)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, retrieved 28 Sept 2022
4. ↑ Ekin, Des. The Last Armada: Queen Elizabeth, Juan Del Águila, and Hugh O'Neill: the Story of the 100-day Spanish Invasion. Simon and Schuster, 2016
5. ↑ DCB http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/button_thomas_1E.html)
6. ↑ Levy Peck, L. (1993). Court Patronage and Corruption in Early Stuart England (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203168240 esp. ch 5 “Corruption and early modern administration: the case of the navy“
7. ↑ Thrush