Posted on 07/31/2006 11:05:36 AM PDT by detsaoT
WILLIAMSBURG—If one becomes a British knight by rendering extraordinary service to the crown, it's hard to imagine anyone more deserving of a knighthood than Capt. John Smith.
Yet Smith, a soldier, explorer and diplomat of the first order, a man some consider largely responsible for the success of the first permanent English settlement in the New World, was never knighted.
That's because the importance of Smith's accomplishments was not recognized until after his death. But a group of local residents doesn't think little things like death or 400 years should keep Britain from recognizing the man who opened the New World to English settlement.
They want Queen Elizabeth II to knight Smith next year during 2007 festivities commemorating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Smith and English colonists at Jamestown. It may be the best idea yet to lure British royalty to Jamestown next May for Anniversary Weekend.
Tom Patton, owner of the Aldrich House bed & breakfast and an archaeology volunteer at Historic Jamestowne, and his friend and fellow local history buff John Sutton are in the forefront of that group.
"Without John Smith's leadership, the colony would have perished as it nearly did shortly following his departure to return to England to recover from a serious injury," Patton wrote to the Gazette in making his case. "The establishment of the United States of America, with its ideals that all men are created equal, and its impact on spreading democracy throughout the world, can be traced directly back to Capt. John Smith at Jamestown."
While the British might not see the need to celebrate the loss of their profitable colonies in the New World (Yorktown will see to that in October, recognizing 225 years since the Allied victory), the fact that England reaped the bounty of those colonies for more than 150 years is largely attributable to Smith. That's because he was one of the first to realize that the treasure of the Americas was not gold and silver, but exploitable land and natural resources.
In pursuit of knighthood for Smith, Patton has been in correspondence with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"I heard back from his secretary of honors, who said there was no mechanism to award knighthood posthumously," Patton said in an interview Friday.
Patton said his research has indicated that there was one posthumous knighthood awarded.
"There was a golfer (Henry Cotton) who was put on the honors list and then died before it was published. He was left on it, probably as a mistake," Patton said. "So there is a precedent for a posthumous knighthood, even if it was an accident."
Cotton was the premier English golfer of the 1930s and '40s, winning the British Open three times. He died in 1987 at the age of 80.
The technicality is that Cotton accepted the honor before his death. He was formally knighted in the "New Year's Day Honours" of 1988, though his knighthood was made effective from the date of his death.
Since Parliament has no way to honor Smith, Patton has focused his quest on Queen Elizabeth.
"The queen has a number of honors she can bestow that don't have to be approved by the prime minister," Patton said. "Monarchs have traditionally changed the criteria for knighthood as they wished."
Patton said the queen bestowing knighthood on Smith would be a historic event in its own right and should be added to the 2007 celebration.
Jamestown 2007 has been trying to get Queen Elizabeth II to attend the Anniversary Weekend in May 2007. A ceremony to knight Smith would seem like a natural reason to oblige.
"Someone could stand in for Smith," Patton suggested. "I would suggest a British military man who's made it on his own, the way Smith did."
Kevin Crossett, Jamestown 2007's media guru, said such a ceremony would be great publicity for Jamestown 2007.
Patton said he'd written to Williamsburg Mayor and Jamestown 2007 executive director Jeanne Zeidler about his proposal.
Zeidler said she hasn't seen Patton's letter about Smith yet, but was intrigued.
"It's a very interesting idea," she said. "I haven't seen the details yet, but obviously anything we can do to bring attention to the celebration is a good thing."
Zeidler said last week that while Jamestown 2007 has been in contact with the British royal family, they haven't yet committed to participating in the commemoration.
Copyright © 2006, Virginia Gazette
They hand out knighthoods too freely (even though it is a noninheritable title).
Elton John is a Knight... need more be said?
It was nice to see an article written about the founders of the Old Dominion that didn't harangue on the "racist" policies of the "imperialists" though. Especially considering it's coming from a blatantly liberal college-town newspaper... :)
~dt~
"I heard back from his secretary of honors, who said there was no mechanism to award knighthood posthumously," Patton said
That's the excuse they use to deny knighthood to Rick Rescorla who saved 3,000 lives on 9-11. Screw the Crown. They've made a joke of knighthood.
www.RickRescorla.com
Not to worry—he's European in the 18th century. They already hated him. ;)
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