John Lok

John Lok
Spouse(s)	Margaret Spert
Father	Sir William Lok
Mother	Katherine Cooke
Died	France

John Lok was the son of Sir William Lok, great-great-great-grandfather of the philosopher John Locke (1632–1704). In 1554 he was captain of a trading voyage to Guinea. An account of his voyage was published in 1572 by Richard Eden.

John Lok's date of birth is unknown. He was one of the nineteen children of the London mercer Sir William Lok by his second wife, Katherine Cooke (d. 14 Oct 1537), daughter of Sir Thomas Cooke of Wiltshire.

He was a half-brother of the mercer Thomas Lok (8 February 1514 – 9 November 1556), Sir William Lok's eldest surviving son and heir by his first wife. His brothers and sisters of the whole blood were:

In 1553 Lok travelled to Jerusalem.

In 1554 Lok was captain of three ships, the Trinity of 140 tons, the Bartholomew of 90 tons, and the John Evangelist of 140 tons which set sail on a trading voyage to Guinea on 11 October. Although unfavourable winds kept them from leaving England's shores until 1 November, they were near Madeira by 17 November, and becalmed two days later at the Canary Islands under the Peak of Tenerife. They touched the coast of Africa at Cape Barbas, and after reaching the mouth of the Sestos River, traded down the coast, 'touching every place of consequence without any memorable incident occurring' until 13 February, when they turned back toward England. Although the voyage out had taken seven weeks, the return voyage took twenty. In all, twenty-four seamen were lost in the course of the voyage. The cargo brought back included more than 400 pounds' weight of gold, 36 butts of , and 250 elephants’ tusks, as well as an elephant's skull of such size and weight that a man could scarcely lift it. Lok's ships also brought home five Africans from present-day Ghana to learn English and act as interpreters on future trading voyages to Guinea.

...
Wikipedia