‘Sea Venture’ Inspires Christian Novel
A “Sea Venture” survivor’s twin quests — one to reach Jamestown after being wrecked in Bermuda, the other an inner journey to find spiritual contentment — are at the heart of a newly-published novel aimed at a Christian readership.
In June of 1606, King James I granted a charter to a group of London entrepreneurs, the Virginia Company, to establish a satellite English settlement in the Chesapeake region of North America. By December, 104 settlers sailed from London instructed to settle Virginia, find gold, and seek a water route to the Orient. Three years later a fleet carrying new settlers and provisions to the Jamestown colony was scattered during a storm – and Admiral Sir George Somers’ flagship “Sea Venture” ran aground here, leading to Bermuda’s permanent settlement in 1612.
While reading a genealogical history, retired pastor and US Army chaplain William Thomas discovered that one of his ancestors — John Thomas — was a “Sea Venture” castaway who had settled in Jamestown after the marooned survivors eventually reached Virginia in their two Bermuda-built ships “Deliverance” and “Patience”. This revelation inspired him to write an historical novel based on this man’s life. “Virginia Gold” is the story of 17-year-old John Thomas, who indentures himself and sets sail from Wales in 1609.
His journey includes being shipwrecked in Bermuda by the hurricane believed to have inspired Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” (recently filmed again from a feminist perspective by director Julie Taymor), followed by an almost year-long interlude on the island. Finally John arrives in Jamestown, only to face a series of challenges and dangers that threaten his dreams of land and wealth.
When asked about the underlying message of “Virginia Gold,” Mr, Thomas says, “First, dreams have power to move people if we have faith enough to persevere. Secondly, spiritual wealth supersedes material wealth.” It took Thomas five years to finish the novel, a process that taught him a great deal about the value and importance of perseverance.
He hopes that “Virginia Gold” will be enjoyed by younger readers, as well as adults. In his opinion “the average person sees history as just events of the past, rather than seeing the people that shaped and influenced those events.” He firmly believes that historical novels have the power to perk more interest in history.
To order a copy of Virginia Gold please visit the WinePress Publishing website or call 877-421-7323.
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In 1976, I visited Bermuda on a sales award trip with other UARCO sales leaders. On an afternoon moped excursion, one member of our group got a flat tire. We ajourned our trip for a time and parked at a nearby pub. As we descended down a path toward the beach to enter the pub, I felt the distinct presence that I had been there before. It was a very unusual feeling that some would describe as deja vu.
Now, in 2013 as I work on my family tree with the help of ancestry.com, I find that out that my 9th Great-Grandfather was shipwrecked there on his way from Plymouth, England to Jamestown aboard the Sea Venture.
The Sea Venture was driven off course and was floundering due to a sea storm, commonly referred to as a tempest in those times. Shakespeare wrote the “Tempest” which some say was influenced by news of the events when the story reached England sometime later.
I am half way through the book and would like to thank the author, William Thomas, for writing this meaningful and entertaining thriller.