In 1663, Charles II gave large land grants in what is now North and South Carolina to eight men, called the Lords Proprietors, who had supported his restoration to the throne in 1660. That same year the Lords Proprietors sent William Hilton to explore the coastal areas of the Carolinas, and he reported favorably on what he discovered. A small group from New England had settled at "Charles Town" on the Charles River (later named Clarendon River, now Cape Fear River in North Carolina) at the end of 1663, but did not like the location and abandoned it after a few months. Influenced by Hilton's favorable description of the Cape Fear area, John Vassall led a second English group, this time from Barbados, to settle the area in May 1664. The Proprietors encouraged the settlers to explore more territory to the south of Charles Town in order to find a better place for a permanent settlement. Lt. Col. Robert Sandford was chosen to command the expedition of 2 small vessels, the Speedwell and the Rebecca. They set out for the southern coast on June 16, 1666, and returned on July 12, a month later. Though the settlers remained at Charles Town until 1667, lack of supplies and hostilities with the Indians led to eventual abandonment of the tiny colony.

Joseph Woory was a member of the English expedition that set out from Charles Town on June 16, 1666, to explore the area from Cape Romano (Cape Fear, called Cape San Romano by the Spanish) down to Port Royal. The expedition took 26 days, during which time they visited St. Helena Island, where they saw a large wooden Spanish cross, Edisto, and Kiawah Island. Woory wrote about the rich quality of the soil, the different kinds of vegetation, varieties of fish and fowl, and Indian fields planted with corn, peas, and beans. The explorers visited Indian villages at Edisto and St. Helena, where they left behind one of their company, Henry Woodward, to learn the Indian language. Woory reported that the Indians were friendly and "seemed very willing to have us settle amongst them." The company sailed from Port Royal on July 9 and arrived at Charles Town on the 12th.

William Hilton, A Relation of a Discovery lately made on the Coast of Florida (London, 1664)

A Brief Description of the Province of Carolina, On the Coasts of Florida, and More particularly of a New Plantation begun by the English at Cape-Feare... (London, 1666), which includes a map.

Robert Sandford's manuscript account of the expedition is in the papers of the Earl of Shaftesbury, Public Record Office, London.

M-3098

Subjects

South Carolina--Discovery and exploration--English

South Carolina--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775

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