When Captain Newport returned with two ships in 1608 he found only ten survivors who were fit to work. Soon after Newport docked, Jamestown caught fire. The conflagration destroyed most of the equipment and possessions already there. Newport’s orders from the Virginia Company of London, the joint-stock enterprise that owned the colony, were to return with goods that would begin to repay the investors. Thus, the settlers spent too much of their time and energy sawing trees and splitting boards, not for their own homes but for export to England. Problems continued for the settlement. The locally governing seven-man Jamestown council spent more time scheming for position instead of organizing the workforce. The Virginia Company continued to send more settlers without proper supplies, adding to the burden of feeding the colony. In addition, the new arrivals were "mostly gentlemen" and few or no tradesmen.

Colonial Williamsburg Journal : Win