Starving Settlers Forced
to
Remain
in
Jamestown
The colonists of Jamestown carried out their dead during the harsh winter of 1609 to 1610. About 80 percent of the colony died during this period referred to as the Starving Time. Escape From Jamestown Foiled at Final Moment
The settlers of Jamestown, Virginia, were abandoning their town and returning to England. But just as they were sailing away, they were stopped by another ship. Lord De La Warr had arrived from England. He ordered the settlers to get off the boat and return to Jamestown. If Lord De La Warr had arrived even an hour later, Jamestown would have been empty.
“I just wanted to go back to England,” one settler told PastTimes. “Jamestown will never be successful. Too many of us have died. I can not believe Lord De La Warr is ordering us to go back.”
It has been a hard year for the people of Jamestown, which is a small settlement in an area named “Virginia.” They arrived in 1607 and have struggled since then—to make enough food, to stay safe from attack, and to establish a new home. Hundreds of settlers have died from starvation, disease, and attacks from nearby Native American tribes.
John Rolfe was on the Sea Venture when he made his first trip to Jamestown. He lost his family when they were shipwrecked off the coast of Bermuda. In June 1609, a group of ships left England to bring supplies to the settlers in Virginia. The ships also carried people who wanted to join the settlement of Jamestown. The flagship, or lead boat of the fleet, was called the Sea Venture.
When the boats were only a week away from Jamestown, a dangerous hurricane struck. The storm lasted for “three daies perpetuall horror” (three days of perpetual horror), said one man who lived through the storm.
The Sea Venture was separated from the other boats and almost sank. But before the boat went under, the crew spotted land and managed to make it to the shore. The Sea Venture ended up on Bermuda, an island hundreds of miles away from Virginia.