World History

A Brave Vessel: The True Tale of the Castaways who Rescued Jamestown and Inspired Shakespeare's The Tempest

Hobson Woodward

About the Program

Hobson Woodward, associate editor of the Adams Papers, recounts the travels of William Strachey, an English poet who was bound for Jamestown in 1609.  The ship he was aboard, the Sea Venture, went off-course during a hurricane and landed in Bermuda where Strachey kept a year-long journal containing reflections on the New World.  He would eventually reach Jamestown, which he recounted in dire terms.  William Starchey's journal would be later used as the basis for William Shakespeare's The Tempest.  This event was hosted by 1699 Isaac Winslow House in Marshfield, Massachusetts.

About the Authors

Hobson Woodward

Hobson Woodward is the associate editor of the Adams Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society.


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Program Information

A Brave Vessel: The True Tale of the Castaways who Rescued Jamestown and Inspired Shakespeare's The Tempest

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Past Airings

  • Monday, September 28th at 7am (ET)
  • Sunday, September 27th at 6pm (ET)
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