Nick Hazlewood

Jemmy Button, a “savage” native of Tierra del Fuego who lived during the early and mid-1800s, managed to get around. England’s King William IV and Queen Adelaide requested he visit them during his sojourn in their country. Charles Darwin knew Jemmy and used to converse with him when they were shipmates during the former’s famous voyage on the Beagle (Darwin was ship naturalist, Button a passenger). Button even figures in The Descent of Man, where Darwin notes that “Jemmy Button, with justifiable pride, stoutly maintained that there was no devil in his land.” Darwin probably knew better than to say the same of England.

Jemmy’s claim calls to mind Alexis de Tocqueville’s observation, after a visit to early nineteenth-century Manchester, that “Civilisation works its miracles and civilised man is turned back almost into a savage.” In any event, after his first visit, Jemmy Button declined to travel again to England when another opportunity to do so arose.

For more, including a murder and the decimation of a people, check out Nick Hazelwood’s Savage: The Life and Times of Jemmy Button, an account of 19th century encounters of Fuegian natives with explorers and immigrants from Britain and Europe. There is much of interest in it although the account suffers from a scarcer level of detail than we find in the best histories. Jemmy’s own story is incomplete and frequently interrupted during the narrative, which doesn’t surprise because when not with the English, when with his own people, little is known about his life. With these deficits Savage falls short of the best books in its subgenre. It’s worth the reading anyway.… (more)

In 1830, an English sea captain bought a young boy from a group of Indians, natives of Tierra del Fuego, islands located off the southern tip of South America. At least that’s what Captain Robert FitzRoy claimed. The Indians say Orundellico, given the name Jemmy Button by his English captors-cum-benefactors, was kidnapped.

Savage is the story of the first Fuegian to learn English and the white Europeans who sought to serve God by “civilizing” him. Along the way, we meet the young Charles Darwin, who was on the second voyage of FitzRoy’s Beagle, England’s King William IV (nicknamed “Silly Billy”) and Queen Adelaide, as well as a host of lords, missionaries, and an assortment of well-meaning ninnies.

Hazlewood continues the story past the death of Jemmy Button, into the next century, when the exploitation of Tierra del Fuego results in the virtual demise of its indigenous inhabitants. Settlers considered the locals to be pests that stood in the way of their economic success; they were hunted down and shot, in the same vein as a fox in the hen house or a coyote among sheep.

Nick Hazlewood has done a fine job of research and does a creditable job of spinning his yarn. Each port of call, each mission station, each village or city is meticulously described as it must have appeared at the time. These descriptions, along with his character-driven account of events lend a you-are-there air to his narrative.… (more)

This is a great read, the history of Britain's role in the slave trade during the reign of Elizabeth I. While this book concentrates on the slavery aspect, John Hawkyns and others including Sir Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh were a vital part of the defense of England from the power and wealth of Spain. They raided Spanish merchant ships and brought treasure home to England to help finance it's defence. Everything they took weakened Spain further. Elizabeth I cannily protested innocence to the various Spanish ambassadors who complained to her about the attacks on Spanish ships. While Drake and Raleigh were close to the Queen, John Hawkyns and others like him were not and the queen never admitted to any relationship with him. Even some of her closest advisors were not aware of the extent to which these 'pirates' were funding the English Treasury. While her conduct was not particularly admirable, Elizabeth had inherited a kingdom badly in debt. Spain was a huge threat to England and it's Protestant religion. When her advisors demanded war, Elizabeth frequently responded by reminding them that wars required money and men which they did not have. Elizabeth's main acheivement was to delay a war with Spain for years through diplomacy and cunning. A war delayed was money in the bank, English lives saved, and the maintenance of the status quo. When the Spanish Armada finally set sail for England in the latter part of her reign, the English were still outnumbered badly in men and ships but they were certainly stronger than in her earlier reign. The defeat of the Armada established England as a strong and independent Protestant country though it should not be forgotten that this was not the last armada.… (more)