1. Richard Hakluyt is known for promoting the English colonization of North America through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America and The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation.
An ordained priest, Hakluyt held important positions at Bristol Cathedral and Westminster Abbey and was personal chaplain to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, principal Secretary of State to Elizabeth I and James I He was the chief promoter of a petition to James I for letters patent to colonize Virginia, which were granted to the London Company and Plymouth Company in 1606.
Richard Hakluyt, the second of four sons, was born in Eyton in Herefordshire in 1553.
Hakluyt's father, named Richard Hakluyt, was a member of the Worshipful Company of Skinners whose members dealt in skins and furs.
Richard Hakluyt died in 1557 when his son was aged about five years, and his wife Margery followed soon after.
Richard Hakluyt was ordained in 1578, the same year he began to receive a "pension" from the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers to study divinity.
Richard Hakluyt's Voyages brought him to the notice of Lord Howard of Effingham, and Sir Edward Stafford, Lord Howard's brother-in-law.
Richard Hakluyt revisited England in 1584, and laid a copy of the Discourse before Elizabeth I together with his analysis in Latin of Aristotle's Politicks.
Richard Hakluyt's objective was to recommend the enterprise of establishing English plantations in the region of North America not yet colonized by Europeans, and thus gain the Queen's support for Raleigh's expedition.
The attention that the book excited in Paris encouraged Richard Hakluyt to prepare an English translation and publish it in London under the title A Notable Historie Containing Foure Voyages Made by Certayne French Captaynes unto Florida.
In 1588 Richard Hakluyt finally returned to England with Douglas Sheffield, Baroness Sheffield, after a residence in France of nearly five years.
Richard Hakluyt held this position until his death, and resided in Wetheringsett through the 1590s and frequently thereafter.
Richard Hakluyt dedicated to Cecil the second and third volumes of the expanded edition of Principal Navigations and his edition of Galvao's Discoveries.
Richard Hakluyt was married twice, once in or about 1594 and again in 1604.
Richard Hakluyt was a leading adventurer of the Charter of the Virginia Company of London as a director thereof in 1589.
Richard Hakluyt's last publication was a translation of Hernando de Soto's discoveries in Florida, entitled Virginia Richly Valued, by the Description of the Maine Land of Florida, Her Next Neighbour.
Richard Hakluyt prepared an English translation of Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius' Mare Liberum, a treatise that sought to demonstrate that the Dutch had the right to trade freely in the East Indies, contrary to Spanish and Portuguese claims of sovereignty over the seas, in the early 17th century.
In that year, Richard Hakluyt was a consultant to the Company when it was renewing its charter.
However, it is not clear why Richard Hakluyt's translation was not published in his lifetime.
In 1591, Richard Hakluyt inherited family property upon the death of his elder brother Thomas; a year later, upon the death of his youngest brother Edmund, he inherited additional property which derived from his uncle.
In 1612 Richard Hakluyt became a charter member of the North-west Passage Company.
Richard Hakluyt is principally remembered for his efforts in promoting and supporting the settlement of North America by the English through his writings.
Richard Hakluyt encouraged the production of geographical and historical writings by others.
The Richard Hakluyt Society was founded in 1846 for printing rare and unpublished accounts of voyages and travels, and continues to publish volumes each year.