Henry Timberlake - Visits To London

Visits To London

While in Williamsburg, Timberlake and Ostenaco attended a dinner party at William & Mary College at which Ostenaco professed his desire to meet the king of England. Although he feared the trip would break him financially, Timberlake agreed. In May 1762, Timberlake, Sumter, and three distinguished Cherokee leaders, including Ostenaco, departed for London.

Arriving in early June, the Cherokee were an immediate attraction, drawing crowds all over the city. The poet Oliver Goldsmith waited for three hours to meet the Cherokee, and offered a gift to Ostenaco. They sat for Sir Joshua Reynolds to take their portraits, and they met personally with King George III. The Cherokee returned to North America with Sergeant Sumter on about August 25, 1762. Timberlake remained in England dealing with some financial difficulties. He was appointed by Crown Governor of Virginia, Jeffrey Amherst, a Lieutenant in the "42nd or Royal Highland Regiment of foot," and the pay from this appointment allowed him to pay for his return to Virginia in March 1763.

Having reached Virginia, Timberlake set out for New York to meet with Amherst to receive his commission. Not long afterward, he received notice that he was among a number of officers to be reduced to half pay. Having learned this, he left the militia and returned home to Virginia to petition the General Assembly for his expenses for the journey to be recompensed, but was denied.

In the summer of 1764, five Cherokee visited him, seeking an audience with the governor of Virginia and requesting passage to London. The Cherokee wished to appeal to King George to enforce the Proclamation Line of 1763, due to continuing encroachement of white settlers on Cherokee land. The governor denied their request, but Timberlake agreed to help them, and he and three of the Cherokee reached London in the fall of 1764. Not long after their arrival, the benefactor of the trip fell ill and died. Lord Halifax refused to grant the Cherokee an audience, as the trip was unauthorized. Timberlake was accused of attempting to profit off of the public attention given to the Cherokee. The government sent the Cherokee back to North America in March. Shortly after their departure, Timberlake was arrested for failing to pay the debt for the last bill for lodging of himself and the Cherokee. He likely wrote his Memoirs while incarcerated.