Hawkins

Hawkins, SIR JOHN, an English navigator, was born at Plymouth about 1532. He has the unhappy distinction of being the first Englishman that trafficked in slaves (1562). His 'commercial' career closed with his disastrous third voyage (1567), after which we find him more honourably employed. He was appointed treasurer of the navy in 1573, knighted for his services against the Spanish Armada in 1588, and for the rest of his life was engaged in making havoc of the Spanish West Indian trade. In 1595, along with his kinsman Drake, he commanded an expedition directed against the settlements in the Spanish Main, but died at Porto Rico, November 21, in the same year. See Hakluyt's Voyages (iii.) and Purchas's Pilgrimes (iv.).