Anthony Jenkinson

Anthony Jenkinson was an English merchant and traveler credited with being one of the first Englishmen to explore present day Russia.

Anthony was born at Market Harborough, Leicestershire into a wealthy and prominent English family. As a young man who trained commercial career he traveled between 1546 and 1556 throughout Europe and Levant visiting most of the countries bordering the Mediterranean. He succeeded to obtain a safe conduct for trade in the Ottoman Empire which is the first documented case of Anglo-Ottoman trade (1553).

In 1555 Jenkinson was admitted a member of the Mercers' Company, and two years later he was appointed captain-general of the Muscovy Company’s fleet sailing for Russia. As agent for the Muscovy Company, he made four journeys to Russia to negotiate trade terms with Tsar Ivan IV, and travelled as far as Persia and the Caspian Sea.

His successful missions to Russia as a representative of the Muscovy Company in the period between 1557 and 1571 have assured his arise in the English diplomatic and mercantile circles during the reign of the Queen Elizabeth. He was also credited with having initiated trade between Persia and England during his second successful journey (1561-1564).

In 1569 for his merits to home country he was granted a coat of arms with a crest featuring a sea horse. Jenkinson remained active in business during the rest of his life. His voyages were related in Hakluyt's “Principal Navigations”, first published in 1589.