Henry Fleete

Henry Fleete (or Fleet) was an early English trader in the Colony of Virginia and Province of Maryland. He was a Burgess representative for the Virginia Colony, and interacted with William Claiborne during the time of conflict between Protestant Virginians and Catholic Maryland leadership. During a trading expedition with Henry Spelman of Jamestown, he was abducted and held captive by the Anacostan people for almost five years.

Family and early life Fleete was the son of William Fleete of Chartham, Kent, and Debora Scott Fleete. He was a great-grandson of Thomas Wyatt the Younger. Henry had brothers named Edward, John, and Reynold.

In Virginia colony Henry Fleete emigrated to Jamestown, Virginia in 1621 with incoming John Harvey (Virginia governor).

During a trading expedition with Henry Spelman of Jamestown, Fleete was abducted and held captive by the Anacostan people for almost five years.

Fleete returned to England to tell others of his abduction, and persuaded William Cloberry and his organization associates to finance fur trade with natives in Virginia, specifically North American beaver fur. Henry Fleete was put on trial for tax evasion, but let free. While most of the settlers were Roman Catholic, Fleete was listed as a Protestant. With Governor L. Calvert, Fleete negotiated with the Piscataway people and Yaocomico to settle the colony in St. Mary's City, Maryland in exchange for armed protection for the natives' enemies.

In April, 1635, Fleete became involved with William Claiborne when he and Captain William Humber seized the pinnace Longtail (commanded by a Thomas Smith) practicing without a license. Claiborne's business partners, Cloberry & Company, had become unsatisfied with the fur shipment amounts, and considered Claiborne's right to Kent Island invalid. In , Fleete was sailing cargo for Maryland in the ship Deborah.

Henry Fleete is also credited for capturing infamous Opechancanough with Virginian forces in 1646. His descendants go by the surname "Fleet".