The Bermuda castaways
The members of the expedition who had survived the storms which shipwrecked them in Bermuda spent the winter of 1609-10 building two small ships, using the recovered materials from the ships they had lost as well as native Bermuda timber. They named the small vessels Patience and Deliverance. In the spring of 1610 these vessels sailed for Virginia, under the command of Thomas Gates. When they arrived at James Fort in May they found the nearly destroyed settlement and the few survivors, many of whom were dying from starvation and disease. The decision was made to abandon the Virginia settlement and return to England.
In June the remaining settlers left the settlement and sailed down the James towards Cape Henry, whence they would sail for England. About ten miles below James Fort they encountered three English ships, carrying supplies, additional settlers, and a new governor for the colony, Thomas West, Baron de la Warr. The governor ordered the small ships departing the colony to return to James Fort, an order which was obeyed reluctantly. Known to history as Lord Delaware, West had no intention of abandoning the colony nor allowing it to fail. Among the Bermuda survivors who turned back to James Fort was an English carpenter named John Rolfe.