Before Hamilton & Montgomery - Sir Thomas Smith's failed English settlement of 1572

I'm almost finished a big piece of research on the Sir Thomas Smith settlement of the Ards Peninsula in 1572. It was a disastrous failure, including the murder of his son and namesake (he was shot, then boiled, then fed to wild dogs) but it paved the way for the huge success of Hamilton & Montgomery in 1606. Once I've finished it I'll start to post excerpts here, and may even start a new website specifically about it.

To understand 1606 fully, it's important to understand some of what came before. The Ards Peninsula is a special wee place!