Captain John Smith and the ARIES Project
Welcome to the UK Website of the ARIES (American Roots in English Soil) Project, set up to celebrate Captain John Smith's contribution to the first permanent English Speaking Colony on Jamestown Island, Virginia, in 1607, and the lives of those who followed him. The people of the United States of America commemorated their 400th Birthday in May, 2007, will the founding of Jamestown, Virginia. In 2008, there were two 400th anniversaries. On September 10th, Captain John Smith was elected to serve as President of Jamestown for one year. In the spring of that year, the Scrooby Separatists escaped from England to go to Holland on their way to becoming the Pilgrim Fathers of New England. In 2009, there are two further 400th anniversaries, the founding of Bermuda following the wreck of the Sea Venture on her way to Jamestown and the return of John Smith to London before setting off again to what he called New England.
The site gives a brief history of the span of John Smith's life, from 1580 to 1631, covering all the early English settlements, from Jamestown to the Pilgrim Fathers and the establishment of Boston, Massachusetts. The ARIES Project has also published short illustrated accounts of the lives of John Smith, Pocahontas, John Rolfe, Christopher Newport, Bartholomew Gosnold, William Brewster of the Pilgrim Fathers and William Wilberforce. These books, written and illustrated with the help of schools, tell the stories of the brave men and women, from Lincolnshire and the East of England, who crossed the Atlantic to contribute to the settlement of America, or who made a significant contribution to world history in other ways. To buy the books, click on the books page. There are also links to the services which the Project can offer to schools and to the support which the project is giving to the development of heritage tourism in the region.. A central aim of the project is to make the rich heritage of Lincolnshire and Eastern England better known through speakers willing to give talks to community groups.
The statue of Captain John Smith on Jamestown Island today
The site is sponsored by Julian Bower Associates Ltd, Julian Bower House, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 9QN, an educational and historical consultancy company. Last updated
18th June 2009