He was a native of
Sturton-le-Steeple,
Nottinghamshire. His mother belonged to a prominent
Leicestershire family whose seat was at
Coleorton Hall. In 1577, he sailed, in command of the
Gabriel, with Sir
Martin Frobisher's second expedition for the discovery of the
Northwest Passage, and in the following year, he took part as second in command in Frobisher's third expedition, his ship being the
Judith. He was then employed in Ireland for a time, but in 1582, he was put in charge of an expedition which was to sail round the
Cape of Good Hope to the
Moluccas and China, his instructions being to obtain any knowledge of the northwest passage that was possible without hindrance to his trade. For this voyage, he was in charge of two warships, the
Galleon Leicester and the
Edward Bonaventure. On this unsuccessful voyage, he got no further than
Portuguese Brazil, and although
defeating a Spanish fleet just off
São Vicente he was unable to trade with the Portuguese residents there. To add to his woes, he was engaged in quarrelling with his officers, and especially with his lieutenant,
William Hawkins, the nephew of Sir
John Hawkins, whom he had in irons when he arrived back in the
Thames.
Richard Madox, who sailed as chaplain, kept a diary of the voyage for the whole year in 1582 which has been published. In 1588, he had command of the
Mary Rose, (not the
preserved vessel), one of the ships of the fleet that was formed to oppose the
Spanish Armada. He died 15 years afterwards, and was buried in St Nicholas's Church in
Deptford. ==Personal life==