Just before Christmas in 1606, 22 men piled into a small ship and, having navigated their way out of London's Thames estuary, set a course west for the New World. The ship - in fact, the smallest in a fleet of three - was the Discovery and, on landing in what is now known as Virginia, its sailors were among the founders of what became the thriving settlement of Jamestown in May 1607.
London's Museum in Docklands is one of a string of institutions that is marking this 400th anniversary, and it has pulled out some stops to give a flavour of the arduous journey and precarious livings that these new settlers had to bear.
Facsimiles of lists of provisions (one rug for a bed [8s]; one armour compleat, light [17s]; two one-shilling hammers) to the total value of £20, including passage, necessary to the 'Progresse of that [Virginia] noble Plantation' have been produced.
Grubby canvas suits of sailors' slops show that an Atlantic passage afforded no catwalk occasions and most impressively, a full-scale model of the Discovery floats in the dock opposite the museum. At a minuscule 11 metres long and three and a half metres wide, you almost itch with scurvy at the sight of it.
Mythologies of voyage, conquest and discovery are as old as human storytelling itself and the exhibition - Journey to the New World - is just one of them. It very much marks the English end of a carefully dovetailed series of undertakings - ones that include museums in modern Jamestown, as well as liaison with municipal authorities in Virginia, Kent and other English councils.
The standard mythology of the arrival of the English in Virginia (Jamestown was its first permanent settlement) is well-trodden ground: the voyagers alighted; they met with the local Native American Powhatan tribe; much turkey was eaten in a meal that has provided the menu for Thanksgiving ever since.
The story even encompasses romance: gallant tobacco planter John Rolfe marries Pocahontas, the daughter of the local chief, and brings her back to England.
Small wonder that a participant dressed up as a tribal chief at the launch of Journey to the New World looked as happy as a turkey at Thanksgiving. Like all mythologies, and their interaction with the writing of a victor's history, there is little truth or subtlety to be found in the anodyne version of turkey suppers and the like.
A careful inspection of the items necessary for all settlers - weapons, coarse suits designed for work and heavy tools - indicates the expectation of a harsh life ahead.
The anniversary offers an opportunity to consider different stories on both sides of the Atlantic. These include writing the Native Americans into history, as well as the stories of another transported people - the enslaved African. It also considers how the puritanical religious tenor of new settlers has been translated over the centuries. A single story should always lead to a thousand more.
Louise Gray is a freelance arts journalist
Journey to the New World, London 1606 to Virginia 1607 is at the Museum in Docklands until 13 May 2007.
www.museumindocklands.org.uk
London's Museum in Docklands is one of a string of institutions that is marking this 400th anniversary, and it has pulled out some stops to give a flavour of the arduous journey and precarious livings that these new settlers had to bear.
Facsimiles of lists of provisions (one rug for a bed [8s]; one armour compleat, light [17s]; two one-shilling hammers) to the total value of £20, including passage, necessary to the 'Progresse of that [Virginia] noble Plantation' have been produced.
Grubby canvas suits of sailors' slops show that an Atlantic passage afforded no catwalk occasions and most impressively, a full-scale model of the Discovery floats in the dock opposite the museum. At a minuscule 11 metres long and three and a half metres wide, you almost itch with scurvy at the sight of it.
Mythologies of voyage, conquest and discovery are as old as human storytelling itself and the exhibition - Journey to the New World - is just one of them. It very much marks the English end of a carefully dovetailed series of undertakings - ones that include museums in modern Jamestown, as well as liaison with municipal authorities in Virginia, Kent and other English councils.
The standard mythology of the arrival of the English in Virginia (Jamestown was its first permanent settlement) is well-trodden ground: the voyagers alighted; they met with the local Native American Powhatan tribe; much turkey was eaten in a meal that has provided the menu for Thanksgiving ever since.
The story even encompasses romance: gallant tobacco planter John Rolfe marries Pocahontas, the daughter of the local chief, and brings her back to England.
Small wonder that a participant dressed up as a tribal chief at the launch of Journey to the New World looked as happy as a turkey at Thanksgiving. Like all mythologies, and their interaction with the writing of a victor's history, there is little truth or subtlety to be found in the anodyne version of turkey suppers and the like.
A careful inspection of the items necessary for all settlers - weapons, coarse suits designed for work and heavy tools - indicates the expectation of a harsh life ahead.
The anniversary offers an opportunity to consider different stories on both sides of the Atlantic. These include writing the Native Americans into history, as well as the stories of another transported people - the enslaved African. It also considers how the puritanical religious tenor of new settlers has been translated over the centuries. A single story should always lead to a thousand more.
Louise Gray is a freelance arts journalist
Journey to the New World, London 1606 to Virginia 1607 is at the Museum in Docklands until 13 May 2007.
www.museumindocklands.org.uk
