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Tanfield, Francis
Governor of South Falkland colony, 1623-1625/1626
Born in Gayton, Northamptonshire, to Clement and Anne Tanfield in 1565, Tanfield would be
governor of the Renews colony in Newfoundland. Knighted in 1603, he accompanied Lord
Spencer to the court of the Duke of Württemberg. He was probably told of the position of
governor of Renews through his second cousin, Elizabeth Tanfield, for two reasons. First, her
father, Sir Lawrence Tanfield, was one of the founders of the London and Bristol Company (or
the Newfoundland Company), and second, she had married Henry Cary, or Lord Falkland, who
was in possession of a quantity of land on the north shore of Trinity Bay and a stretch of land
between Aquaforte and Renews on the Avalon peninsula's Southern Shore.
In 1623, with a group of colonists, Tanfield left for Renews, having been selected as governor of
a colony to be established there. Little is known of his tenure, but it is known that he had to
concern himself with disagreements between the colonists and the migratory fishermen. The
colony probably lasted until 1626, for Richard Whitbourne reported visiting there that year,
offering Tanfield advice on how to manage the colony. The settlement probably did not exist
much longer after this, and it is believed that the colonists returned to England for fear of an
attack from the Spaniards. Tanfield is next, and last, heard from in 1630, when he left for Ireland
on a mission for the king.
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