We join Brian once again for our Going to the Source series as he examines a primary source from Captain John Smith and what is sometimes referred to as “John Smith’s Equipment List”.

Captain John Smith spent two and a half years in Virginia (1607-1609) and returned to what was then the coast of northern Virginia in 1614 -- mapping what is now Maine and Massachusetts -- and named the region New England. In 1624 Smith published his book “The Generall History of Virginia, the Somer Iles and New England, with the Names of the Adventurers and their Adventurs…”, one of the earliest, if not the earliest, histories of the territory administered by the Virginia Company of London.

Within his Generall History and probably based on his military and new world experiences, John Smith thought it was necessary to provide a sort of packing list of clothing, tools, equipment, provisions and military hardware that should be brought to Virginia for a year and titled his suggested list “A particular of such necessaries as either private families, or single persons, shall have cause to provide to goe to Virginia, whereby greater numbers may in part conceive the better how to provide for themselves.”

In this video Brian examines the portion of the list that covers the items of clothing that John Smith felt a settler should supply themselves with for their service in Virginia.

Be sure to check out our Getting Dressed series to learn more about English clothing in the early-17th century:
Clothing for a 17th Century English Woman at Jamestown -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDIgZIhEv2E&t=299s
Clothing for a 17th Century English Man at Jamestown -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PjmD4tDSZM&t=20s