Thomas Cavendish (1555-1592), English explorer. Cavendish was born near Ipswich, Suffolk. At the age of 12 he inherited a fortune from his father. He attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, but left at age 17 without graduating. He was the first person to deliberately set out to circumnavigate the world and was the third person to do so (after Ferdinand Magellan and Francis Drake). He left England in July 1586, sailing first to Brazil. His route then took him south along the coast of Patagonia, through the Strait of Magellan (named after Ferdinand Magellan), across the Pacific to the Philippines, and round the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He reached Plymouth two years and 50 days after his departure, fabulously wealthy. He died during an