His mother belonged to a prominent Leicestershire family whose seat was at Coleorton Hall.
[1] 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.
[1] Richard Madox, who sailed as chaplain, kept a diary of the voyage for the whole year 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.
The mother of the girls, wife of Benjamin, was Ursula, daughter of Anthony Hussey.