Lancaster, James (c. 1554–1618)

English navigator and statesman who commanded the Edward Bonaventure under Sir Francis Drake against the Spanish Armada, and later sailed in a pioneer expedition to the East Indies in 1591. The lucrative outcome of this voyage resulted in the formation of the British East India Company.

On his return home in 1603 he settled down as a director of the company and helped to organize its early growth.