Sir Thomas Button Mid Career Details

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

In 1614 Button was appointed admiral of the Irish naval station under orders to combat piracy. In January 1615 he assisted in the recapture of Dunaverty, creating a diversion by rowing a longboat in front of the castle under fire, while armaments were offloaded from ships. His bravery under fire earned him a knighthood from Ireland’s lord deputy on August 30, 1616^[1][2].

When in 1618 he was found to have been receiving two pensions for the last 10 year naval commissioner John Coke demanded a return of 730 pounds. This case was dropped through the intervention of Ireland’s lord chief justice explaining that the second award was legitimate. Further allegations of misconduct were dropped through the intervention of several merchants in Bristol whose shipping Button had protected from pirates. Corruption was rife in the navy during the early Stuart period so Button had to navigate corruption and court charges as well as the admiralty politics. The climate of corruption and fraud that was rampant during this time dogged Button to the end of his days^[3].

When Robert Mansell was tasked with ridding the Algerian coast of pirates, he asked Button to leave his posting on the Irish coast. Butten was appointed Rear Admiral of the small fleet. He distinguished himself in his bravery under fire during the siege of Algiers, for which he received a commendation^[4], one of the few officers to gain credit during the unsatisfactory expedition^[5].

Button returned to home waters and served for many years as “Admiral upon the Irish Coast.” He had disagreements with the Commissioners of the Navy over supply issues for his undermanned ships, and frequently had to request the funds due him^[6].

In 1622 he resisted the ‘bitter and sharp persecutions’ of navy commissioners under James I as he sought to prevent further cuts to crew size. He attempted to take control of his supply chain in order to avoid transportation delays of needed goods en route from Kent to Bristol^[7][8].

James I declared war on Spain in March 1624, initiating the Anglo-Spanish war of 1625 to 1630 which was part of the Thirty Years' War (1618 and 1648). The war spanned Europe, being one of the bloodiest and most destructive wars in Europe until the twentieth century^[9]. ^[10]. Button was appointed to the War Council, moving to Fulham (West London), leaving his command of the Irish coast to a deputy and investigating official malpractice^[11].

In May 1625 he participated in the funeral of James I, carrying a banner of Ireland. Although he was very ill, Button attended the House of Commons in March 1626 when the War Council was asked to reveal secret advice they had given the Lord Admiral, the Duke of Buckingham^[12].

In September 1624 Button led 2000 troops to relieve Buckingham’s siege of the Isle de Re off the French coast near La Rochelle in the Bay of Biscay. A severe storm and substandard vessels delayed his arrival until after the siege had been abandoned. Button returned to his service on the Irish coast^[13].

Button’s investigation into naval corruption continued to distress the Navy Board, who tried to have him expelled from office. On 14 Feb, 1627 he lamented: “All the world will take notice that I am unbound of the ship in which I have served so long. If dismissed I shall shelter myself under the lee of a poor pension.” The next day the Earl of Denbigh wrote to the Duke of Buckingham; “I should be sorry if so able and honest a man as Sir Thomas Button were neglected." Near the end of February the Navy Board complained that Button "would take no notice of any order unless he received it from Buckingham's immediate command."^[14]

Button continued active service, taking action against pirates and smugglers at Pwllheli in Cardigan Bay, northwest Wales in 1631^[15].

When further voyages of exploration of the Northwest Passage were of proposed in 1631, Button was consulted, advising Luke Foxe^[16] and his rival Thomas James^[17]. https://www.bartleby.com/214/0511.html Accessed 29 September, 2022

“W’ch I doe as confidently beleave to be a passage as I doe there is on[e] either between Calis and Dover or between Holy Head and Ireland.” ^[18]

Foxe followed Button’s route into Hudson Bay and found Button’s camp at Port Nelson, then left Hudson Bay, following what is now known as the Northwest Passage north through Foxe Channel into the shallow basin between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula, now named Foxe Basin. Foxe turned back at 66°47'N, much further north than Button had gone, then, blocked by the thick sea ice, returned to England with no loss of life^[19][20].

Thomas James, a fellow Welshman, left Bristol in May 1631 on the Henrietta Maria, met Foxe in Hudson Bay then turned southward, exploring the bay to the entrance of James Bay (named for Thomas James), along its western shore and overwintered at Charlton Island in the southernmost region of James Bay. The island played a minor role until the 1800s when it was a fur trade post^[21][22][23].

To prevent ship damage by ice nip, James sank his ship, refloating it in June, perhaps because Button had related the ice damage that caused him to abandon the Resolution. James ventured north into Foxe Channel to 65°30', returning to Bristol on 22 October 1631^{[24][25][26][27]}.

Sources

1. ↑ Thrush, Andrew (2004), "Button, Sir Thomas (c.1575–1634)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, retrieved 17 December 2016
2. ↑ DCB http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/button_thomas_1E.html
3. ↑ 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“
4. ↑ Thrush, Andrew (2004), "Button, Sir Thomas (c.1575–1634)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, retrieved 17 December 2016
5. ↑ DCB http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/button_thomas_1E.html ALED EAMES
6. ↑ DCB http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/button_thomas_1E.html ALED EAMES
7. ↑ Centre for Kentish Studies, UC269/1/ON7124
8. ↑ Thrush, Andrew (2004), "Button, Sir Thomas (c.1575–1634)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, retrieved 17 December 2016
9. ↑ The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688 https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=2132 accessed Sept 29, 2022
10. ↑ On 14 April 1624
11. ↑ Admiral Sir Thomas Button, Dr. Ross Mitchell, Manitoba Pageant, Spring 1970, Volume 15, Number 3, http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/15/button_t.shtml Accessed 29 September, 2022
12. ↑ Thrush, Andrew (2004), "Button, Sir Thomas (c.1575–1634)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, retrieved 17 December 2016
13. ↑ Thrush, Andrew (2004), "Button, Sir Thomas (c.1575–1634)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, retrieved 17 December 2016
14. ↑ Admiral Sir Thomas Button, Dr. Ross Mitchell, Manitoba Pageant, Spring 1970, Volume 15, Number 3, http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/15/button_t.shtml Accessed 29 September, 2022
15. ↑ Evans, C.J.O. (1948). Glamorgan, its History and Topography. Cardiff: William Lewis. p. 147
16. ↑ https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/luke-fox Accessed 29 September, 2022
17. ↑ https://www.bartleby.com/214/0511.html Accessed 29 September, 2022
18. ↑ DCB http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/button_thomas_1E.html ALED EAMES
19. ↑ Glyn Williams, Arctic Labyrinth, 2009, Chapter 4
20. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Foxe Accessed 29 Sept 2022
21. ↑ 1. "The Atlas of Canada - Sea Islands". Natural Resources Canada. Archived from the original on 2010-07-02. Retrieved 2011-05-05
22. ↑ Arthur S. Morton,"A History of the Canadian West",page 34
23. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_James_(sea_captain) Accessed Sept 29, 2022
24. ↑ 1. Christy, Miller (ed.), The Voyages of Captain Luke Foxe of Hull and Captain Thomas James of Bristol, in Search of a North-west Passage, in 1631-32, London, Hakluyt Society, 1894
25. ↑ Harris, Carolyn (Aug 2017). "The Queen's land". Canada's History. 97 (4): 34–43. ISSN 1920-9894
26. ↑ Glyn Williams, "Arctic Labyrinth",2009, Chapter 4
27. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_James_(sea_captain) Accessed Sept 29, 2022