17th-century prequel to Pearl River, about the family of William King, an 18th-century Wivenhoe shipwright.
Captain John King & the Nimble Ketch is the tale of a Wivenhoe man and his boat. John became the first master of the famous Wivenhoe-built ketch Nonsuch in 1651, hired to work the sands of the Thames Estuary. He went on to take part in some of the most decisive sea battles ever fought off the East Anglian coast for Commonwealth and Crown, rising to become a Captain in the King’s Navy. This story reveals the importance of the ketches Nonsuch and Wivenhoe, protecting the local maritime trade against pirates and carrying “advice” and orders for the Navy. The Company of Adventurers made these two little vessels famous when starting the Hudson Bay fur trade.
“When writing Pearl River I had no idea of the part his ancestor Captain John King had in the turbulent upheavals the century before.” James Dodds
Jardine Press Ltd
ISBN 978-1-8382272-4-1
Paperback, 129 x 198mm, 148pp
16 illustrations
Jardine Press 2025
Retail price: £10
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