Brief history of Plymouth

During the 16th century, Plymouth was the home port for many successful maritime traders, including Sir William Hawkins
(or Hawkyns) and his son Sir John Hawkins, who defied the Treaty of Tordesillas. It was Sir William Hawkins who led the
first English participation in the triangle trade. In 1562 Sir John Hawkins, with the full support of Queen Elizabeth I,
led England's first foray into the slave trade, kidnapping hundreds of men and women from Sierra Leone and elsewhere in
West Africa to trade in the Spanish colonies in the Americas.

As an Atlantic port Plymouth has seen the arrival and departure of many historical figures in English history.
Catherine of Aragon and Pocahontas both arrived in England via the port in 1501 and 1616 respectively. It was also from
Plymouth that the Pilgrims sailed to the New World in 1620 aboard the Mayflower before landing at and founding
the "Plymouth Colony". Napolean Bonaparte was brought to Plymouth aboard the HMS Bellerophon which remained on the
Plymouth Sound for two weeks before his exile to St Helena in 1815 and the surviving crew of the RMS Titanic disaster
disembarked at Millbay docks on their return to England in 1912.

Most visitors to Plymouth are drawn to the spectacular Plymouth Hoe, a stretch of greensward on Plymouth
Limestone (Devonian) low cliffs, overlooking Plymouth Sound; it is believed that this is the place where Sir Francis
Drake completed his game of bowls before setting sail to defeat the Spanish Armada.

Plymouth was one of the United Kingdom's principal naval dockyards, a naval tradition that continues to this day.
The city was extensively blitzed during the Second World War, to the extent that approximately twice the amount of
housing stock that existed prior to the war was destroyed during it (as a consequence of rebuilt houses being successively
hit). Although the dockyards were the principal targets, civilian casualties were inevitably very high.


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