I was born in York, England in 1632. My
father was German and my mother was English. I had two older brothers and a
younger sister. The oldest brother joined the army and he was
killed in battle. The middle one disappeared and
we never heard what happened to him. I was well-educated and
my father wanted me to study law, but I wanted to go to sea. Nothing
would make me stay at home and become a lawyer.
I was 18 years old when my father called me
to his room. He was old and he suffered from an illness
which kept him in bed. My father asked me why I wanted to go to sea when I
could stay at home, study and prosper in my own country.
He told me that travelling by sea was dangerous. He warned me
that I would lose safety and comfort of my home if I
went to sea. My father also told me that if I went abroad, I could die like my
oldest brother. When he was saying this, he started to cry and he couldn’t
continue.

