If you have a suitable product or service and would like to get involved in the project contact Deirdre Livingstone, Head of Project, Jamestown 2007 E: deirdre.livingstone@visitbritain.org or visit www.beginyouradventure.co.uk.
VisitBritain is targeting US visitors (and especially those searching their British ancestry) to come to Britain to see its impressive stately homes, castles, historic cities and villages which inspired those early pioneers to lead their voyage to Virginia and to form the first permanent English-speaking settlement in 1607.
Deirdre Livingstone, VisitBritain’s Head of Project for the Jamestown 2007 said: “Many of the crew who set sail for America on those first three ships came from the eastern counties of England, so we are weaving a strong genealogy component into the campaign. Of particular interest to the ancestral tourist, is our full list of those adventurers which can now be seen on our website www.visitbritain.com/usa. Having specially partnered up with Ancestry.co.uk, we can now offer the American visitors a chance to go on their own personal odyssey. In so doing, they can find out more about that period of history and the early settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, heralded, then as now, as the very “cradle of democracy”. Already US tour operators are linking up with UK operators offering group itineraries covering this period.
Jamestown 2007 is also featuring in a spectacular ‘Big Sail’ tour currently underway (from 27 May – 30 July 2006 when the replica settler’s ship will call at six ports on the east coast of the US). The British launch event will take place on 19th December at Blackwall on the Thames. Located close to the departure point of the three ships, at Virginia Quay in London is the Museum in Docklands. Here is the ‘First Settlers Monument’, and where a special exhibition will feature the story of the Jamestown settlement and of descendents. The exhibition, (running November 2006 through to May 2007), will include items on loan from Jamestown Virginia.
Jamestown 2007 offers visitors a journey of discovery through East England from Lincolnshire in the north to Kent in the south to learn more about the birth of a nation. A series of sample travel itineraries under the banner ‘Begin your adventure where your ancestors began theirs’ cover everything from castles and gardens to stunning cathedrals and historic homes. Itineraries range from following the trail of soldier of fortune Capt John Smith and the Jamestown settlers to discovering the truth about Princess Pocahontas. Otley Hall for example, just an hour away from Harwich is a stunning 15th century moated hall, which was the birthplace of Bartholomew Gosnold, captain of the Godspeed. Bartholomew Gosnold, had previously sailed to the New World in 1602 and named Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard (naming it after his daughter, Martha).
At Heacham, on the north Norfolk coast visitors are being enticed to another historic area relating to the infamous John Rolfe. He later married Princess Pocahontas, the daughter of the Chief of the Powhatan Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia. Pocohontas and her small son Thomas Rolfe came to Britain with her English husband. On her return voyage to Jamestown, she died at Gravesend.
Kent plays a central role in the Jamestown 2007 with the regal St. George’s Church as the final resting place of Pocahontas, and her memorial statue in the riverside graveyard. Long a place of pilgrimage for American visitors, Gravesend commemorates Pocahontas’ burial in 1617 with a plaque and stained glass windows in the church. In Lincolnshire, US visitors can visit the village of Willoughby where Captain John Smith was born. Legend has it that Pocohontas saved his life – pleading with her father Powhatan to spare him. In 1609 Smith became president of Virginia.
London, with its own links to the Jamestown story offers visitors a chance to see Hampton Court Palace, the former residence of King James I, namesake of the Jamestown settlement and the James River in Virginia. Of special interest to Virginian Indians will be the unique collection of period drawing by the anthropologist John White at the British Museum, which depicts early village life in the settlement. St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate church is where Captain John Smith worshipped and is buried. The eulogy from his tomb is reproduced on a copper memorial plate near the site of his grave: “Here lyes one conquered that hath conquered kings.”
Also on view will be the exceptional and dramatic 267ft New World Tapestry - on display at the Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol throughout October 2006. The museum uncovers 500 years of history including British exploration and trade, and an interactive experience ‘pow-wow’ recreates the meeting of English settlers and Native American Indians.
Date: 01.06.06
