ABSTRACT
Of the ships, the Drake—the admiral or flagship—belonged to John Watts, the London merchant and shipowner, who shared the ownership of the Examiner with his son John, Thomas Sewell and Robert FitzWilliams. Watts was one of the merchants who suffered by the arrest of English shipping in Spanish ports in 1585; he sued for redress in the High Court of Admiralty and was granted letters of reprisal in the summer of 1585. Watts not only set forth his own expeditions, but co-operated with other merchants and gentlemen in privateering, notably in the important ventures of Drake in 1587, Lancaster in 1595 and Cumberland in 1598. The verdict of the Venetian ambassador, who described Watts as 'the greatest pirate that has ever been in this kingdom' was unjust, but Watts was certainly the greatest of the merchant promoters of privateering. Fitz Williams was an old associate of John Watts, having commanded one of his ships in 1585.
