Alexander Whitaker | |
|---|---|
 Whitaker andPocahontas depicted on a stained glass window | |
| Born | 1585 Cambridge, England |
| Died | 1616(1616-00-00) (aged 30–31) James River, Virginia Colony |
| Other names | Alexander Whiteaker |
| Occupation | Anglicantheologian |
| Notable work | Good Newes from Virginia (1613) |
Alexander Whitaker (1585–1616) was anEnglish Anglicantheologian who settled in North America inVirginia Colony in 1611 and established two churches near theJamestown colony. He was also known as "The Apostle of Virginia" by contemporaries.
Born inCambridge, he was the son ofWilliam Whitaker (1548–1595), Protestant scholar and Master ofSt. John's College, Cambridge. Whitaker was educated atTrinity College, Cambridge and became a clergyman in the North of England.[1]
Travelling to Virginia in 1611, he was a popular religious leader with both settlers and natives, and was responsible for the baptism and conversion ofPocahontas atHenricus two years later. She took the baptismal name "Rebecca".Richard Buck presided at her marriage toJohn Rolfe on April 5, 1614. His relative tolerance of theNative American population that English colonists encountered can be found in his sermons, some of which were sent back toEngland to help win support for the new colonies inNorth America. The most famous of these sermons isGood Newes from Virginia (1613), in which he describes the native population as "servants of sinne and slaves of the divill," but also recognizes them as "sons of Adam," who are "a very understanding generation, quicke of apprehension, suddaine in their despatches, subtile in their dealings, exquisite in their inventions, and industrious in their labour."
Before leaving England, Whitaker had crossed paths with a York merchant who later became an English naval captain and explorer ofNew England,Christopher Levett ofYork. In Whitaker's will of 1610, and proved following his death in 1616, Whitaker noted that he owed "Christopher Levite, a linen draper of the city of York" just over £5.[2] Trained as a York merchant, Levett later founded the first settlement atPortland, Maine, where he was granted 6,000 acres (24 km2) by the King. The settlement failed.
Whitaker drowned in 1616 while crossing theJames River.[3]
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