Notes for John Mildenhall

Notes for John Mildenhall

[MargrafJM.FTW]

John was a self-styled ambassador to India, appointed by the East India Company in 1599. He claimed to be the representative of Queen Elizabeth I. In addition to his child born in England, he had two illegitimate children by a Persian woman. A son and daughter were still living with their mother in Persia at the time of John's death. John left London 12 Feb 1599 in the "Hector" with Richard Parsons as its master. On 27 April they arrived at Zante where John hired a "saettia" and went to Izmir, Turkey and on to Constantinople, arriving 29 October 1599. He stayed in Constantinople for six months, resuming his journey and arriving at Aleppo 24 May 1600. He left Aleppo and arrived at Bir at the edge of the Euphrates River with about 600 people. According to the East India Company records, John made a second trip to India early in 1614. It was on this trip that he fell ill and died. His body was buried in the Catholic Cemetery at Agra.

From Glen T Mildenhall:
John Mendenhall was appointed ambassador to India by the East India Company. In that role he left London on 12 Feb 1599 aboard the ship Hector, arriving at Zante on 27 April 1599 and later at Constantinople on 29 Oct 1599 where he stayed for six months. He travelled on to Aleppo, arriving there on 24 May 1600, and later to Bir near the Euphrates River. On a second trip to India in 1614 he fell ill and died. He was buried in a Catholic cemetery in Agra, India. The following e-mail refers to his ambassadorship to India:

I was also interested in Sir John Mildenhall as I first heard of him from a picture in an old Book of Knowledge showing Queen Elizabeth sending him off to India in 1599. No mention is given of him in the text of the book so I'm interested in any info you have on him. We do not know his wife's full name. Her first name was Elizabeth. They had at least one child, Thomas Mendenhall, who is my direct ancestor. John Mendenhall also had two illegitimate children, a son and a daughter, to a Persian woman. There are apparently references to John Mendenhall in the historical records of the British East India Company.