John Lok

John Lok's date of birth is unknown. He was one of the nineteen children of the London mercer Sir William Lok by his second wife, Katherine Cooke (d. 14 Oct 1537),{{sfn|Lee|1893|p=93}} daughter of Sir Thomas Cooke of Wiltshire.{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}{{sfn|Lowe|2004}}{{sfn|McDermott|2004a}}According to Lee she was the daughter of William Cooke of Salisbury, and at her death on 14 October 1537 was buried at Merton Priory in Surrey.

He was a half-brother of the mercer Thomas Lok (8 February 1514 – 9 November 1556), Sir William Lok's eldest surviving son and heir by his first wife.{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}} His brothers and sisters of the whole blood were:{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}

• Dorothy Lok, who married firstly the London merchant Otwell Hill (d.1543), and secondly John Cosworth of London and Cornwall, merchant. Otwell Hill was the brother of Richard Hill.{{sfn|Sutton|2005|p=391}}{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}[http://www.kateemersonhistoricals.com/TudorWomenL.htm Dorothy Locke (d.1576+), A Who’s Who of Tudor Women: L compiled by Kathy Lynn Emerson to update and correct Wives and Daughters: The Women of Sixteenth-Century England (1984)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921073628/http://www.kateemersonhistoricals.com/TudorWomenL.htm |date=21 September 2013 }} Retrieved 27 November 2013.[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/cosworth-john-1516-75 Cosworth, John (by 1516-75), of London and Cosworth near St Columb, Cornwall, History of Parliament] Retrieved 27 November 2013.
• Katherine Lok, who married firstly Thomas Stacey of London, Warden of the Mercers' Company in 1555 together with his brother-in-law, Thomas Lok,{{sfn|Sutton|2005|p=559}} and secondly William Matthew of Bradden, Northamptonshire.{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}
• Rose Lok (26 December 1526), who married firstly the London mercer Anthony Hickman, son of Walter Hickman of Woodford, Essex, and secondly Simon Throckmorton, esquire, of Brampton, Huntingdonshire, and was a Marian exile. She died 21 November 1613, aged 86.{{sfn|McDermott|2004a}}{{sfn|Lock|2004}}{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}
• Alice Lok, (d.1537), died without issue.{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}
• Thomasine Lok (d.1530), died without issue.{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}
• Henry Lok (d.1571) of London, mercer, who married Anne Vaughan, by whom he was father of the poet, Henry Lok.{{sfn|Brennan|2004}}{{sfn|McDermott |2004a}}{{sfn|Grosart|1871|pp=11-12}}{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}
• Michael Lok of London, mercer, who married firstly Jane Wilkinson, daughter of William Wilkinson, mercer and Sheriff of London, and secondly Margery Perient, widow of Caesar Adelmare, father of Sir Julius Caesar.{{sfn|McDermott|2004}}{{sfn|McDermott|2004a}}{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}
• Elizabeth Lok (3 August 1535 – c.1581), who married firstly Richard Hill (d.1568), mercer and alderman of London, and by him had thirteen children, and secondly Nicholas Bullingham, Bishop of Worcester, who died in 1576, by whom she had one child.{{sfn|Sutton|2005|p=391}}{{sfn|McDermott|2004a}}[http://www.kateemersonhistoricals.com/TudorWomenL.htm Elizabeth Locke or Lok (3 August 1535-c.1581), A Who’s Who of Tudor Women: L compiled by Kathy Lynn Emerson to update and correct Wives and Daughters: The Women of Sixteenth-Century England (1984)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921073628/http://www.kateemersonhistoricals.com/TudorWomenL.htm |date=21 September 2013 }} Retrieved 27 November 2013.According to McDermott, Elizabeth was William Lok's daughter by his first marriage; however according to Sutton Elizabeth was Rose Lok's youngest sister, and therefore William Lok's daughter by his second marriage.{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}
• John Lok, whose mother died at his birth, and he the day after.{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}

File:Negroland and Guinea with the European Settlements, 1736.jpg to which Lok travelled in 1554]]

In 1553 Lok travelled to Jerusalem.{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}{{sfn|Hakluyt|1904|pp=76–104}}

In 1554 Lok was captain of three ships, the Trinity of 140 tons, the Bartholomew of 90 tons, and the John Evangelist of 140 tons which set sail on a trading voyage to Guinea on 11 October. Although unfavourable winds kept them from leaving England's shores until 1 November, they were near Madeira by 17 November, and becalmed two days later at the Canary Islands under the Peak of Tenerife. They touched the coast of Africa at Cape Barbas, and after reaching the mouth of the Sestos River, traded down the coast, 'touching every place of consequence without any memorable incident occurring' until 13 February, when they turned back toward England. Although the voyage out had taken seven weeks, the return voyage took twenty. In all, twenty-four seamen were lost in the course of the voyage. The cargo brought back included more than 400 pounds' weight of gold, 36 butts of Guinea pepper, and 250 elephants’ tusks, as well as an elephant's skull of such size and weight that a man could scarcely lift it.[http://www.e-reading.co.uk/chapter.php/80243/52/Kerr_-_A_General_History_and_Collection_of_Voyages_and_Travels,_Vol.VII.html Voyage to Guinea in 1554 by Captain John Lok] Retrieved 29 November 2013/{{sfn|Hunt|1842|p=175}}{{sfn|Murray|1818|pp=149–50}}{{sfn|Lardner|1830|pp=225–6}} Lok's ships also brought home five Africans from present-day Ghana to learn English and act as interpreters on future trading voyages to Guinea.[http://www.unesco.8m.com/1/AfricanContribution%20to%20UK%20Society/africans_in_british_history.htm Africans in British History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202234832/http://www.unesco.8m.com/1/AfricanContribution%20to%20UK%20Society/africans_in_british_history.htm |date=2 December 2013 }} Retrieved 24 November 2013/[http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/people-and-places/the-slave-trade-and-abolition/time-line/ The Slave Trade and Abolition: Timeline, English Heritage] Retrieved 28 November 2013.

An account of the voyage was written by Robert Gaynsh or Gainsh, master of one of the ships.{{sfn|Murray|1818|pp=149–50}}{{sfn|Kerr|1824}}[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64423555 Voyage to Guinea, 1554, WorldCat] Retrieved 24 November 2013.

On 8 September certain articles were delivered to Lok by the London merchants Sir William Garrard, William Winter, Benjamin Gonson, Lok's brother-in-law, Anthony Hickman, and Edward Castelyn concerning another voyage to Guinea which they proposed to finance with Lok as captain. In a letter dated 11 December 1561 Lok declined to go, citing, among other reasons, the unsoundness of the ship and the unseasonableness of the time of year. The voyage went ahead without Lok in 1562; accounts were written in prose by William Rutter and in verse by Robert Baker.{{sfn|Hakluyt|1906|pp=253–61}}{{sfn|McDermott|2001|p=449}}

Lok is said to have died in France.{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}} The date of his death is unknown.

Lok married Margaret Spert, cousin of Sir Thomas Spert,{{sfn|Baldwin|2004}} but is said to have died without issue.{{sfn|Locke|1853|pp=358–9}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite ODNB |last=Baldwin |first=R.C.D. |year=2004 |title=Spert, Sir Thomas (d. 1541) |id=52009}}
• {{cite ODNB |last=Brennan |first=Michael G. |year=2004 |title=Lok, Henry (d. in or after 1608) |id=16949}}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Grosart |editor-first=Alexander |year=1871 |title=Poems by Henry Lok, Gentleman (1593-1597) |publisher=Privately printed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TqoUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA8 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hakluyt |first=Richard |year=1904 |title=The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques & Discoveries of the English Nation |location=Glasgow |publisher=James MacLehose and Sons |volume=V |pages=76–104 |url=https://archive.org/stream/principalnavigat05hakl#page/76/mode/2up |access-date=29 November 2013 }}
• {{cite book |last=Hakluyt |first=Richard |year=1906 |title=The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques & Discoveries of the English Nation |location=Glasgow |publisher=James MacLehose and Sons |volume=VI |pages=154–80, 253–7 |url=https://archive.org/stream/principalnaviga18haklgoog#page/n184/mode/2up |access-date=28 November 2013}}
• {{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Freeman |year=1842 |title=The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review |location=New York |volume=VII |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IoQoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA175}}
• {{cite book |last=Kerr |first=Robert |year=1824 |title=A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels |location=Edinburgh |publisher=William Blackwood |volume=VII |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13287/13287-h/13287-h.htm#chapter3-7 |access-date=24 November 2013 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Lardner |first=Dionysius |year=1830 |title=The Cabinet Encyclopedia: The History of Maritime and Inland Discovery |location=London |publisher=Longman Rees |volume=II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zEMSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA225 }}
• {{cite DNB |last=Lee |first=Sidney |year=1893 |wstitle=Lok, William |volume=34 |page=93}}
• {{cite ODNB |last=Lock |first=Julian |year=2004 |title=Bullingham, Nicholas (1511?–1576) |id=3917}}
• {{cite book |last=Locke |first=John Goodwin |year=1853 |title=Booke of the Lockes |location=Boston |publisher=James Munroe and Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2twUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA358}}
• {{cite ODNB |last=Lowe |first=Ben |year=2004 |title=Throckmorton, Rose (1526–1613) |id=67979}}
• {{cite ODNB |last=McDermott |first=James |year=2004 |title=Lok, Michael (c.1532–1620x22) |id=16950}}{{DNBfirst|wstitle=Lok, Michael}}
• {{cite ODNB |last=McDermott |first=James |year=2004a |title=Lok, Sir William (1480–1550) |id=16951}}
• {{Cite book |last=McDermott |first=James |year=2001 |title=Martin Frobisher: Elizabethan Privateer |publisher=Yale University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/martinfrobishere0000mcde |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/martinfrobishere0000mcde/page/449 449] |isbn=0-300-08380-7}}
• {{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Hugh |year=1818 |title=Historical Account of the Discoveries and Travels in Africa |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Archibald Constable and Company |edition=2nd |volume=I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pDcQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA149 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Anne F. |year=2005 |title=The Mercery of London: Trade, Goods and People, 1130-1578 |location=Aldershot, Hampshire |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Limited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iqfOAhjwJwcC&pg=PA393 |isbn=9780754653318 }}
• {{Cite journal |last=Williamson |first=James A. |date=July 1914 |title=Michael Lok |journal=Blackwood's Magazine |pages=58–72 }}

• [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.03.0070%3Anarrative%3D522 'The second voyage to Guinea set out by Sir George Barne, Sir John Yorke, Thomas Lok, Anthonie Hickman and Edward Castelin, in the yere 1554. The Captaine whereof was M. John Lok', in Hakluyt, Richard, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation] Retrieved 28 November 2013
• [http://eh.geoview.info/cabo_barbas,2463141 Map of Cape Barbas, Morocco] Retrieved 24 November 2013
• [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D952124 Will of William Lok, Mercer and Alderman of London, proved 11 September 1550, PROB 11/33/331, National Archives] Retrieved 24 November 2013
• [https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4421709?uid=3739400&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21102934397047 Millar, Eric George, 'Narrative of Mrs Rose Throckmorton'], The British Museum Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Feb., 1935), pp. 74-76, Retrieved 24 November 2013

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Category:16th-century English people

Category:Sea captains

Category:Sailors from London