During a trading expedition with Henry Spelman of Jamestown, Fleete was abducted and held captive by the Anacostan people for almost five years.[3] He was 24-25 years old at the time of his capture.[8][6] Henry was ransomed to the government of Virginia in c. 1626.[9]
Fleete returned to England to tell others of his abduction, and persuaded William Cloberry and his organization associates to finance fur trade with natives in Virginia, specifically North American beaver fur.[6] Fleet was master of the barkParamour for Cloberry & Company.[6]
Fleete settled at "St. George's Hundred" on land granted to him near the St. Georges Creek.[2] Fleete's house, West St. Mary's Manor was built around 1627 and used for meetings.
In September, 1631, the Warwick sailed from England to Virginia with Fleete acting as factor and Captain John Dunton as the shipmaster. Fleete traded around the Potomac River, but was arrested for tax evasion by rival traders Charles Harman and John Utie.[10] Henry Fleete was put on trial for tax evasion, but let free.[7]
In April, 1635, Fleete became involved with William Claiborne when he and Captain William Humber seized the pinnace Longtail (commanded by a Thomas Smith) practicing without a license.[13] Claiborne's business partners, Cloberry & Company, had become unsatisfied with the fur shipment amounts, and considered Claiborne's right to Kent Island invalid.[13] This led to a few more skirmishes and eventually, a time of riot in Maryland.
In 1635, "Fleete's Hill" trading post was established near Petersburg, Virginia.[7] Fleet Street in Petersburg is named after him.[14] In February 1638 [O.S. February 1637], Fleete was sailing cargo for Maryland in the ship Deborah.[15]
Henry Fleete is also credited for capturing infamous Opechancanough with Virginian forces in 1646.[7]
Fleete died in Lancaster County on a plantation property. Fleete's namesake island and Fleets Bay [sic] both like north of the mouth of the Rappahannock River.[16] His descendants go by the surname "Fleet".[7]
^Virginia Gleanings in England (Continued). The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 28, no. 4, 1920, pp. 340–45. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4243787. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.
^ abcdMorrison, A. J. "The Virginia Indian Trade to 1673." The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, vol. 1, no. 4, 1921, pp. 217–36. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1915333. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
^Neill, Edward D. “Virginia Carolorum: The Colony during the Days of Charles the First and Second (Continued).” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 9, no. 4, 1886, pp. 407–23. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20084726. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
^ abClaiborne, J. Herbert. "William Claiborne of Kent Island." The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, vol. 1, no. 2, 1921, pp. 74–99. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1923023. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
