Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral (1540 - January 27, 1596) was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, explorer and politician of the Elizabethan era. He carried out the second circumnavigation of the world, from 1577 to 1580. Bartholomew Gosnold (1571 - August 22, 1607) was an English lawyer, explorer, and privateer who was instrumental in founding the Virginia Company of London, and Jamestown in colonial America. Martin Frobisher (1535 or 1539 - November 15, 1594) was an English seaman and privateer (licensed pirate) who made three voyages to the New World to look for the Northwest Passage.