17 ғасырдағы жеке қарулы кеме капитаны және Ньюфаундленд колониясының губернаторы Дэвид Кирк

17th century privateer and colonial governor of Newfoundland

Sir David Kirke (c. 1597 – 1654), also spelled David Ker, was an adventurer, privateer and colonial governor. He is best known for his successful capture of Québec in 1629 during the Anglo French War and his subsequent governorship of lands in Newfoundland. A favourite of Charles I, Kirke's downfall came with that of the Crown during the English Civil War and it is believed he died in prison.

Kirke was a son of Gervase (Jarvis) Kirke, a rich merchant of the City of London, and Elizabeth Goudon, a French Huguenot woman. He was raised in Dieppe, in Normandy. David was the eldest of five sons, followed by Lewis, Thomas, John and James. While still in England, David married to Sara Kirke. They left for Newfoundland in 1638 and had a number of children, including their sons George, David the Younger, and Phillip.

An English fleet, consisting of six warships and three pinnaces, left Gravesend in March 1629 with Jacques Michel, a deserter from Champlain, to act as pilot on the St. Lawrence River. Champlain sent a party from Quebec, whose residents were on the point of starvation, to meet an expected relief fleet under fr. Unknown to Champlain, Caën was also bringing word that in April peace had been declared in Europe by the Treaty of Susa. Although Champlain's party met Caën in the Gulf, they were captured by the English on their way upriver to Quebec. Kirke, now aware of the desperate conditions facing the Quebecers, sent his brothers Lewis and Thomas to demand a French surrender. Having no alternative, Champlain surrendered on 19 July 1629.

Kirke is believed to have visited Ferryland, as he published a report on the island of Newfoundland in 1635. The charter of this new grant had stipulations designed to reduce conflict with migratory fishermen; there was to be no settlement within six miles of the shore, fishing rooms were not to be occupied before the arrival of the summer fishing crews, and a five per cent tax was to be collected on all fish products taken by foreigners. Kirke was installed as the Proprietary Governor and arrived in 1638 with one hundred colonists. The original governorship of the Avalon Peninsula had passed to Baltimore's son, Cecilius Calvert, who had installed William Hill as governor. Kirke seized the governor's mansion, then occupied by Hill. In January 1638, the king also granted Kirke a coat of arms, "For the greater honour and splendour of that Countrey and the people therein inhabiting to be used in all such cases as Armes are wont to be by other nations and Countries." Over the next several years, he built forts at Ferryland, St. John’s, and Bay de Verde. He collected tolls from all fishing vessels. His lands were acquired by the Commonwealth of England. Found not guilty, in 1653 Kirke re purchased the title to his lands. His wife, Dame Sara Kirke, returned to Newfoundland to oversee his business and reclaim his property, but Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, brought new charges against Kirke over the title of the lands around Ferryland. In 1660, Treworgie returned to England to ask for another term as governor and for six year's salary he claimed he was owed. He never returned to Newfoundland.