Robert Tyndall (surveyor)

Robert Tyndall was a mariner who traveled with the original colonists to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_First_Republic_in_America/HXJ5AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA686&printsec=frontcover&dq=tyndall Brown, Alexander. The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records Then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories Then Licensed by the Crown. United States, Houghton, 1898.]{{Cite web|url=https://packrat-pro.com/ships/jamestown.htm|title=Jamestown Colony 1606|website=packrat-pro.com}}

{{seealso|Pedro de Zúñiga y de la Cueva#Chart of Virginia}}

File:Brown 1608 Robert Tindall Virginia map PDF scan.jpg

Tyndall was part of the original Virginia Company ships that sailed from England in December, 1606, to colonise Virginia. When Captain Christopher Newport became lost in April, 1607, Tyndall used an astrolabe to navigate the ships westward to Chesapeake Bay.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

In May, 1607, Robert Tyndall accompanied Christopher Newport and John Smith, aboard the Discovery in surveying of the coastline and rivers.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Near Turkey Island (James River), an unnamed native drew the English a map of the area which became the beginning of the "Tyndall draughte map".[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_First_Republic_in_America/HXJ5AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tyndall&pg=PA28&printsec=frontcover Brown, Alexander. The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records Then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories Then Licensed by the Crown. United States, Houghton, 1898.] Tyndall mapped the York River during a journey to Werowocomoco with Newport in February, 1608. This map is the first of its kind by a colonist of Jamestown.Mook, Maurice A. “The Ethnological Significance of Tindall’s Map of Virginia, 1608.” The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, vol. 23, no. 4, 1943, pp. 371–408. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1923191. Accessed 6 Nov. 2024. Samuel Purchas and others used this map as a source for future Virginia charts.Ford, Worthington Chauncey. “Captain John Smith’s Map of Virginia, 1612.” Geographical Review, vol. 14, no. 3, 1924, pp. 433–43. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/208424. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Tyndall, employed as a surveyor for the Virginia Company of London, was called a "Gunner to Prince Henry",{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/TheGenesisOfTheUnitedStatesV1/page/n177/mode/2up | title=The Genesis of the United States; v 1 | date=1890 }} and wrote letters about Virginia to his sponsor, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. {{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HXJ5AAAAMAAJ&dq=tyndall&pg=PA33 | isbn=978-0-7222-6545-1 | title=The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories then Licensed by the Crown | date=1898 | publisher=Houghton }}Verner, Coolie. “The First Maps of Virginia, 1590-1673.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 58, no. 1, 1950, pp. 3–15. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4245671. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024. In 1608, he included a map:

{{quote|"...draughte [map] of our River, hear inclosed, by us discovered..."{{Cite web|url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/primary-documents/letter-from-robert-tindall-to-prince-henry-june-22-1607/|title=Letter from Robert Tindall to Prince Henry (June 22, 1607)|first=Robert|last=Tindall|website=Encyclopedia Virginia}}}}

This map and letter were delivered to the Virginia Company of London when Captain Newport returned to England in late 1608.{{Cite web|url=https://packrat-pro.com/ships/marymargaret.htm|title=Mary Margaret 1607, 1608|website=packrat-pro.com}}

Tyndall's Point (across the river from Yorktown, Virginia, now called Gloucester Point) was originally named in Robert's honour.{{Cite web| title=NA. 9 - Gloucester point | url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/hiway_markers/images/3237_1.jpg | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250224092513/https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/hiway_markers/images/3237_1.jpg | archive-date=2025-02-24}} Tyndall's Point Park still bears his name and has historical markers.{{cn|date=November 2024}} "Tindall's Shoals" (on the map) is Mulberry Island area.{{Cite web|url=https://powhatan.wm.edu/history/historicMaps.htm|title=Werowocomoco|website=powhatan.wm.edu}} Tyndall identifies the now-named York River as "Prince Henneri His River", and upriver is "Poetan" (Powhatan) near Purtan Bay, which is the village of Werowocomoco.

In 1609, Tyndall, back in England, captained the Mary and John with Samuel Argall for a faster, more direct route to Virginia colony.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HXJ5AAAAMAAJ&dq=tyndall&pg=PA84 | isbn=978-0-7222-6545-1 | title=The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories then Licensed by the Crown | date=1898 | publisher=Houghton }} Francisco Fernández de Écija, captain of the Spanish La Asunsión de Cristo (a small zabra, an inshore exploration vessel), was tasked with the "matter of Virginia", to gather information on the English colony's strength.{{cn|date=November 2024}} In Chesapeake Bay, the Mary and John intercepted the smaller ship and prevented it from entering the James River and discovering the status of Jamestown. The Mary and John returned to England by October, 1609.Connor, Seymour V. “Sir Samuel Argall: A Biographical Sketch.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 59, no. 2, 1951, pp. 162–75. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4245766. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.

Robert Tyndall and Argall again sailed with the Jamestown supply missions flotilla of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr from England, arriving at Cape Henry at the end of Starving Time, intercepting colonists abandoning the settlement.{{additional citation needed|date=November 2024}} Tyndall was tasked with a fishing expedition on Virginia to help feed the starving English.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HXJ5AAAAMAAJ&dq=tyndall&pg=PA132 | isbn=978-0-7222-6545-1 | title=The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories then Licensed by the Crown | date=1898 | publisher=Houghton }}

Francisco Maguel, an "Irishman" who returned from Virginia to England in 1608, attributed a "Captain Tindol" in a report as being a Catholic sympathizer,Barbour, Philip L. "Captain George Kendall: Mutineer or Intelligencer?" The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 70, no. 3, 1962, pp. 297–313. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4246865. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024. but this moniker actually referred to either the deposed Councilor Edward Maria Wingfield or the mutineer Councilor George Kendall Both Kendall and Wingfield were suspected spies for the Spanish Empire--it is doubtful that Robert Tyndall (under the employ of the Prince of Wales and the Virginia Company) would be involved with Spain.

John Smith mentions in Generall Historie of Virginia that Samuel Argall sailed with a "Master Thomas Sedan", which is likely Master Robert Tyndall. There is speculation that Smith didn't want to name a rival cartographer.

• Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail

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Category:People from colonial Virginia

Category:17th-century English explorers

Category:History of Virginia