Nandels Expedition

The Nandels Expedition of 1704 was a historic expedition resulting in the colonization of what is now the Nandels Port Metropolitan Area.

Background
In 1683, Sir Edmond Nandels, an English scholar, had been studying about the island of Doggerland and its historic settlements there. Noting that these settlements had since moved on, either leaving for the nearby mainland or being forced out by other colonists, he decided to set up an expeditionary force and travel there in an effort to form the first permanent settlement there. Unbeknownst to him, a group of Dutch colonists had been permanently settling in the southwestern regions of the island since a few decades earlier. After an extensive period of planning, he proposed the idea to King William II, who rejected to support these forces. He felt that it was much too dangerous on account of the failed attempts in the centuries prior to establish settlements there and that granting permission to Nandels' team would only result in failure. As a compromise, Nandels asked permission to survey the land to better establish a plan before his crew's arrival, to which the King agreed.

Surveillance
In 1694, Nandels set off on his first mission. The plan was to sail around the island and see if they could spot an ideal place to settle. On May 6, the crew left the pier at Dartford and set sail for the North Sea. On May 19, they arrived at Texel, an island off the coast of the Netherlands, though they had initially assumed it to be Doggerland. When they started surveying the land, they started noticing more islands in the distance, and anchored on the island's coast. They calculated that they had drifted off course and made their corrections, though this cost them a few days' time. On June 13, they arrived at Doggerland, and until July 4, circumnavigated the island before arriving at a bay leading into the island. They decided not to sail into it, but made notes as it seemed to them to have the best landscape and access to the ocean for their settlement. They had also failed to notice Dutch settlements toward the tip of the island, believing them to be reminants of prior settlements, so they avoided that area. On August 8, they returned to Dartford.

Crew
It is said that Nandels brought with him thirty men to assist in getting an accurate measure of the island. One of these men, Hugh Tybert, is said to have drowned after falling off the boat, though the reason is disputed. The official reason for this accident given was that he was attempting to fix a broken rail and upon leaning on it for a brief moment, it collapsed and fell with him into the sea. However, it was discovered in 2001 that a journal from a crewmate Edward Tyson might have indicated that he fell over the rail from laughing too hard at another crewmate's joke. His body was not recovered.

16 crewmates have been identified:

The First Expedition
Nandels relayed his findings to King William, who was now more confident in the expedition. Put off by the troubles navigating there and Hugh Tybert's drowning, Nandels did not set off on his attempt to settle until 1699. On January 26, 1699, Nandels and most of his crew set off again from Dartford to head to the bay they had discovered at Doggerland. A noted exception was that of Mathew Smith, who had died in 1697 and thus was not present on this mission. On February 3, the crew had arrived and to their amazement, found the area was suddenly full of people establishing a port. Upon re-evaluating their map, they realized they had made it to Rotterdam, also in the Netherlands.

! Known Crewmates
 * Edward Nandels, expedition leader
 * John Albertson, ship's captain
 * Richard Attenborough
 * John Escott
 * Mr. Lannister, cartographer
 * James Neill
 * Daniel Nolan
 * David Russel
 * Alexander Shores (unknown if on surveillance mission)
 * George Smith
 * William Smith
 * Hugh Tanner
 * Hugh Tybert
 * Alfred Tybert, servant to Nandels
 * Edward Tyson, royal steward
 * Devon Vyre, physician
 * Edward Tyson, royal steward
 * Devon Vyre, physician


 * James Ong, cartographer