Editing Martin Frobisher (section)

==Early life==
Martin Frobisher was probably born in 1535 or 1536, the son of merchant Bernard Frobisher of [[Altofts]], [[Yorkshire]], and Margaret York of [[Gouthwaite]].{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|p=xi}} He was the third of five children when his father died prematurely in 1542. The family was left in the care of his uncle, Francis Frobisher. Little else is known of his early life in Yorkshire; his education appears to have been rudimentary. In hopes of better opportunity, young Frobisher was sent to London in 1549 to live with a maternal relative, Sir [[John York (Master of the Mint)|John York]].{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=8–10}} York was a wealthy and influential member of the [[Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors|Merchant Taylors]] and had important connections in the royal government.{{sfnmp|1a1=McDermott|1y=2001a|1pp=21–22|2a1=McGhee|2y=2001|2p=25}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Eric H. Ash|title=Power, Knowledge, and Expertise in Elizabethan England|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IfyHKqKewugC&pg=PA124|year=2004|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-7992-0|page=124}}</ref>

In 1553, [[Thomas Wyndham (navigator)|Thomas Wyndham]] led the first English expedition to West Africa, comprising three ships and 140 men. York was an investor in the enterprise and Frobisher accompanied the fleet in an unknown capacity. After plundering Portuguese ships in the vicinity of [[Madeira]], they made their most successful transactions on the Gold Coast, trading English cloth for 150 pounds of gold. Pushing further south they reached [[Benin City|Benin]] and negotiated directly with [[Oba of Benin|Oba]] [[Orhogbua]] for 80 [[Long ton|tons]] of [[Grains of paradise|melegueta pepper]].<ref name="Fryer1984">{{cite book|author=Peter Fryer|author-link=Peter Fryer|title=Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8rVeu2go8IC&pg=PA6|year=1984|publisher=University of Alberta|isbn=978-0-86104-749-9|page=6}}</ref> After some initial reluctance, Orhogbua agreed to trade but while the pepper was being gathered, disease swept through the English crew killing many of them including the expedition leader, Wyndham. Lacking sufficient sailors to crew the entire fleet, they abandoned one ship and, in their panic to leave, even left behind some members of the expedition. The return voyage was extremely difficult for the sick and short-handed crew. Another ship was lost and when the one remaining ship returned to England only 40 of the original 140 crewmen were still alive. Frobisher was one of the survivors, perhaps a confirmation of York's assessment that Frobisher had "great spirit and bould courage, and natural hardnes of body{{sic}}."{{sfnmp|1a1=McDermott|1y=2001a|1pp=35–38|2a1=McGhee|2y=2001|2p=27}}

Despite the loss of two ships and 100 lives, the 1553 voyage was considered a financial success and investors, including York, funded another trading expedition to Portuguese Guinea in 1554. Undaunted by his first experience, Frobisher joined the new expedition and served as an apprentice merchant working for York's trading representative, John Beryn.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=34–35}} Three ships left Dartmouth in November 1554 under the command of [[John Lok]]. This may have been Frobisher's first acquaintance with the Lok family, a relationship that would play an important role in his future.{{sfnmp|1a1=McDermott|1y=2001a|1pp=39–40|2a1=McGhee|2y=2001|2p=27}}

After seven weeks' sailing, they made their first landfall near the [[Cestos River]] in present-day Liberia. They traded for a quantity of pepper and then proceeded to the Gold Coast, the West African gold trade centre. The local government refused to deal with the English until they provided a hostage to ensure negotiations in good faith. Frobisher volunteered to serve as the hostage and discussions were allowed to proceed. However, before they could conclude a deal, a Portuguese ship appeared offshore and fired on the English fleet.{{sfnp|McDermott|2001a|pp=40–41}}<ref name="Eliot1917">{{cite book|author=K.M. Eliot |editor=Mandell Creighton |editor2=Justin Winsor |editor3=Samuel Rawson Gardiner |editor4=Reginald Lane Poole |editor5=John Goronwy Edwards|title=The English Historical Review|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5_RAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA91|volume=XXXII|date=January 1917|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co.|pages=91–92|chapter=First Voyages of Martin Frobisher}}</ref> The expedition abandoned Frobisher and went elsewhere to trade, eventually returning to England with a valuable cargo of gold, pepper, and ivory. His African captors then handed Frobisher over to the Portuguese at their [[History of Elmina|trading post of Mina]], where he was imprisoned in the [[Elmina Castle|castle of São Jorge da Mina]]. After nine months or so, the Portuguese authorities sent him to Portugal, whence he eventually made his way back to England about 1558.{{sfnp|McGhee|2001|p=25}}<ref name="Kupperman2009">{{cite book|author=Karen Ordahl Kupperman|title=The Jamestown Project|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIp7_e8KMJ0C&pg=PA27|date= 2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-02702-2|page=27}}</ref>