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Will Adams was born in Gillingham and was baptised in the Parish Church of St. Mary on 24 September 1564. It is fortunate that this event is recorded in the Baptism Register, because it is the only documentary evidence which links Will Adams to Gillingham. It is likely that his father John was a seafarer or shipwright and that the family were living in Gillingham because of the shipyards and early naval docks along the Medway at Gillingham. Little is known of Will Adams’ early life; it is not known how long the family lived in Gillingham. The next recorded event was when he was 12. His father had died and he was apprenticed to Nicholas Diggines, a shipbuilder on the Thames at Limehouse.
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Picture of Will Adams. Select for a larger version.
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Here he learned his trade and in 1588 he was appointed captain of the ship Richard Driffield. His remit was to carry supplies to the ships engaged with the Spanish Armada.
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Picture showing the fleet
passing Annobon, an
island off West Africa.
Select it to enlarge the
picture.
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In 1598 he married Mary Hyn at Stepney, by which time they already had at least two children. On hearing of the plans by the Dutch East India Company to send an expedition to the Far East, Will Adams travelled to Holland with his younger brother Thomas to seek work. Both were appointed to the flagship of a fleet of five ships, De Hoop (Hope) Will was employed as Chief Pilot to the fleet. The names of the other ships in the fleet were: - De Liefde (Charity);
- Het Geloof (Faith);
- De Trouw (Fidelity); and
- Blyde Boodschop (Good News).
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The fleet sailed from Holland in June 1598. It was to prove a difficult, dangerous and disastrous journey for most of those involved. Of the five ships which set out only De Liefde completed the journey to Japan. Of its 110 crew only 24 were alive, and of these only six were capable of standing up without assistance. After nine days the warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu summoned the captain of De Liefde. He was far too ill to obey, so Will Adams the pilot and Melchior Standvoort were taken in his stead by ship to Osaka. After lengthy imprisonment and interrogation in Osaka Castle, it would seem that leyasu was drawn to them. He showed interest in their experience of a world beyond the shores of Japan, of their homeland and its history. Will answered questions with great clarity which appealed to leyasu.
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Map showing Will
Adams' journey
from England to
Japan. Select it
to see a bigger
picture.
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In October 1600 Tokugawa leyasu won a decisive battle over his enemies which gave him the position of Shogun. He had seen from the outset that Will Adams would be a valuable tutor. He was given a house near Nihombashi so that he was close to leyasu’s castle in Edo.
In 1602 Will Adams asked for permission to repair the De Liefde and sail back to England to his wife and children. His request was firmly refused.
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Memorial to Will Adams in Hirado, Japan.
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In 1604 Will Adams was ordered to build a sailing craft like De Liefde for the Shogun. At first he would not, but it soon became all too obvious that this was not a request to be declined. The ship was constructed at Ito, one of the places where Will Adams and his memory are still honoured in Japan by an Anjin Festival. In 1609 the Dutch East India Company made another attempt to open up trade with Japan. They set up a factory in Hirado. It was their intention to manage all trade between Holland and Japan. There was intense rivalry with other European ventures. The merchants from the English East India Company, for example, also set up a trading post at Hirado.
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The Honourable (English) East India Company had been founded in London on 21 December 1600. The aim of the company was to navigate the largely uncharted East Indies, Asia and Africa and to open up trade routes. All such activities were to be undertaken at the Company’s expense. In 1613 the Company set up the English Factory at Hirado with Richard Cocks as its Manager.
Will Adams was employed by the English East India Company as a Pilot and Captain but it would seem that his advice on trade was not heeded by the directors of the factory.
The viability of both the Dutch and English factories was always in doubt. The Japanese were not open to the idea of foreigners living and trading in their country. They were concerned that Christian missionaries would infiltrate the country with the merchants. In 1616 the English and Dutch were ordered to restrict their trading activities to Hirado and Nagasaki and to make complete reports of all cargoes. Such severe restrictions caused dissent between the English and Dutch and by all accounts, much distress to Will Adams.
From 1617 Will Adams was trading independently. He bought a junk from the English Factory which he renamed The Gift of God. He obtained the necessary charters to allow him to trade. Many obstacles, including the continuing problems between the English and Dutch, made this difficult.
His last voyage was made in August 1619, when his health was already failing.
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In May 1620 he sent for Richard Cocks and William Eaton and appointed them as executors. His testament or will sets out provision for his family in England and his family in Japan. Will Adams died on 16 May 1620. A copy of his will was carried back to England by Martin Pring on board the James Royal in August 1620. Close links have been forged between Gillingham and Ito. In 1934 Gillingham’s own monument to Will Adams was unveiled. It was attended by an august array of dignitaries, including the Japanese Ambassador. The Mayor of Gillingham and Borough dignitaries travelled to Japan in 1987 to take part in festivities.
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Unveiling the Will Adams memorial,
Gillingham, 1934.
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larger picture.
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