On this day in Tudor history, 7 October 1589, the bells of Deptford tolled for William Hawkins: merchant, sea captain, three-time mayor of Plymouth, and the steadier, quieter elder of the famous Hawkins brothers. Buried at St Nicholas’s, his monument is lost, but his impact isn’t.

In this episode, I trace how Hawkins turned Plymouth into a launchpad for Elizabethan sea power:

• From Brazil voyages with his father to a Plymouth shipowner and civic powerhouse
• Privateering in the Channel during the 1557–58 war and pushing London for reprisals after San Juan de Ulúa
• Building Plymouth’s infrastructure (new water conduit, weighhouse, grain transport) and securing Hawkins’ Quay
• Leading a bold 1582–83 venture via Cape Verde to the Caribbean (Margarita, Puerto Rico)
• Backing, and benefiting from,  ...