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Sir Martin Frobisher

Sir Martin Frobisher (ca. 1538-1594), English explorer, naval commander, and soldier, initiated Europe's search for a Northwest Passage to the Orient and discovered the Hudson Strait.

Martin Frobisher, born in Yorkshire, went to London as a boy to be educated by a relative. He showed no aptitude for book learning, so his kinsman sent him to sea. Before reaching manhood Frobisher had been on two voyages to the Guinea Coast. On the second he was captured and handed over to the Portuguese garrisoning São Jorge da Mina, who allowed him to return to England. For a time he engaged in piracy, though he never attacked English ships.

By the 1570s England had largely abandoned hope of finding a Northeast Passage to Asia, and thoughts turned to the Northwest. Frobisher formed a partnership with Michael Lok, a man of some means and learning. Frobisher's first voyage, in 1576, took him to Frobisher Bay in Baffin Island, which he at first claimed as the strait; he also captured an Eskimo whom Lok supposed was a Tatar from north of China.

English investors, including Queen Elizabeth, overlooked Frobisher's former piracy to pour money into Lok's Company of Cathay. Frobisher sailed again in 1577, this time to ship home what he mistakenly thought was gold-bearing ore. Lok still felt hopeful and sent Frobisher back in 1578. This time the mariner discovered the Hudson Strait, which he followed for nearly 200 miles and acknowledged to be a more promising Northwest Passage than Frobisher Bay. He brought home more dirt and rocks, but English confidence had evaporated; Lok went to a debtors' prison and Frobisher sought other employment.

Frobisher accompanied Sir Francis Drake to the West Indies in 1585-1586. When Philip II's Spanish Armada entered the English Channel in 1588, Frobisher's part in the fighting was distinguished, and he received knighthood. He died of a bullet wound, received near Brest, where he had been sent to relieve the Spanish siege. He lived just long enough to be taken back to Plymouth.

Further Reading

William McFee, Life of Sir Martin Frobisher (1928), is an adequate biography. Highly recommended is George Best's 16th-century work, The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher in Search of a Passage to Cathay and India, edited by Vilhjalmur Stefansson (2 vols., 1938). James A. Williamson, Age of Drake (1938; 5th ed. 1965), covers Frobisher's entire career, although this information is scattered throughout the work. Frobisher is also discussed in Samuel Eliot Morison, The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages (1971).

 
 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Sir Martin Frobisher

(born c. 1535, Yorkshire, Eng. — died Nov. 22, 1594, Plymouth, Devon) English navigator and early explorer of Canada's northeastern coast. Searching for the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, he crossed the Atlantic in 1576 and reached Labrador and Baffin Island, discovering Frobisher Bay. Returning to England with reports of possible gold mines, he obtained royal backing for further expeditions in 1577 and 1578; when he brought back nothing of value, his backing collapsed. In 1585 he sailed as vice admiral of Sir Francis Drake's expedition to the West Indies, and in 1588 he played a prominent part in the campaign against the Spanish Armada.

For more information on Sir Martin Frobisher, visit Britannica.com.

 
British History: Sir Martin Frobisher

Frobisher, Sir Martin (c.1535-94). Although notable as an early English sea trader in west Africa and the eastern Mediterranean in the 1550s and later associated with Drake in the West Indies expedition of 1585-6 and the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Frobisher is best remembered as an explorer who made three attempts in the period 1576-8 to find the North-West Passage. After more encounters with the Spanish in the 1590s, Frobisher was killed at Brest.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Frobisher, Sir Martin
(frō'bĭshər) , 1535?–1594, English mariner. He went to sea as a boy, and spent much of his youth in the African trade. He later gained the friendship of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, through whom he became interested in the Northwest Passage. Licensed by Queen Elizabeth I and backed by a group of merchant adventurers, Frobisher made three voyages (1576, 1577, and 1578) to the Arctic in search of the passage. On his first voyage he sailed into Frobisher Bay to S Baffin Island, and from its shores brought back some black ore thought to contain gold and an Eskimo to prove his belief that he had actually reached fabled Cathay. Returning to Baffin Island on his next two journeys, he explored Frobisher Bay to its head and penetrated a short distance up Hudson Strait. Since his geographical discovery was slight and no gold was revealed in his cargoes of ore, Frobisher's name was discredited for a time. In 1585, however, he won glory as commander of a ship in Sir Francis Drake's expedition to the West Indies and was knighted for his services with Drake and Sir John Hawkins in the defeat of the Spanish Armada (see Armada, Spanish) in 1588. He died as the result of wounds received at Brest during an English campaign against the Spanish. The narratives of his voyages, first published in 1578, have passed through several editions. The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher by George Best was edited from the original 1578 text by Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1937).

Bibliography

See biography by J. McDermott (2001); study by R. Ruby (2001).

 
Wikipedia: Martin Frobisher
Martin Frobisher by Cornelis Ketel.
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Martin Frobisher by Cornelis Ketel.

Martin Frobisher (c. 1535 or 1539 – November 22, 1594) was an English seaman (from Wakefield, Yorkshire) who made three voyages to the New World to look for the Northwest Passage. All landed in northeastern Canada, around today's Resolution Island and Frobisher Bay. On his second voyage, Frobisher found what he thought was gold and carried 200 tons of it home on three ships, where initial assaying determined it to be worth a profit of £5 per ton. Encouraged, Frobisher returned to Canada with an even larger fleet and dug several mines around Frobisher Bay. He carted 1,350 tons of the ore back where, after years of smelting, it was realised that both that batch of ore and the earlier one he had taken were worthless. As an English privateer/pirate, he collected riches from French ships. He was later knighted for his service in repelling the Spanish Armada in 1588.

Early life


At an early age, he was sent to a school in London, where he was placed under the care of a kinsman, Sir John York. In 1553, Sir John sent him to sea with a trading expedition sailing to the Guinea coast of Africa. The following year on another expedition to Guinea he was held hostage for several months before being freed..[1] By 1565, he is referred to as Captain Martin Frobisher and in 15711572 as being in the public service at sea off the coast of Ireland. Frobisher was charged with piracy at least three times, although the cases never went to trial.[2]

He weighed anchor at Blackwall, and, after having received a good word from Queen Elizabeth I of England at Greenwich, set sail on June 7th, 1576, by way of the Shetland Islands.

In a storm, the pinnace was lost, and the Michael was abandoned, but on 28 July, the Gabriel sighted the coast of Labrador.

Some days later, the mouth of Frobisher Bay was reached, and because ice and wind prevented further travel north, Frobisher determined to sail westward up this passage (which he conceived to be a strait) to see "whether he might carry himself through the same into some open sea on the back side."

Baffin Island was reached on the 18 August 1576, where the expedition met some of the local natives. Having made arrangements with one of the natives to guide them through the region, Frobisher sent five of his men in a ship's boat to return the native to shore, but instructing them to avoid getting too close to any of the other natives. The boat's crew disobeyed, however, and were apparently taken captive by the Inuit. After days of searching Frobisher could not recover them, and eventually took hostage the man who had agreed to guide them to see if an exchange for the missing boat's crew could be arranged. The effort was fruitless, and the men were never seen again, but Inuit legend tells that the men lived among them for a few years until they died attempting to leave Baffin Island in a self-made boat. Frobisher turned homewards, and reached London on 9 October. Among the things which had been hastily brought away by the men was a "piece of a black stone,". There assayers were unimpressed with the ore. Only one out of four experts consulted believed the ore to be gold-bearing, and he admitted he "knew how to flatter nature". Nevertheless, Frobisher's backers, led by Micheal Lok and the Muscovy Company used this assessment to lobby for investment for another voyage. [3]

The second voyage

The next year, a much bigger expedition than the former was fitted out. The Queen sold the Royal Navy ship Ayde to the Company of Cathay and provided £1000 towards the expenses of the expedition. The Company of Cathay was granted a charter from the crown, giving the company the sole right of sailing in every direction but the east. Frobisher was appointed high admiral of all lands and waters that might be discovered by him.

On 25 May 1577 the expedition, consisting, besides the Ayde, of the ships Gabriel and Michael, with an aggregate complement of 150 men, including miners, refiners, gentlemen, and soldiers, left Blackwall, and sailing by the north of Scotland reached Hall's Island at the mouth of Frobisher Bay on 17 July. A few days later the country and the south side of the bay was solemnly taken possession of in the queen's name.

Several weeks were now spent in collecting ore, but very little was done in the way of discovery, Frobisher being specially directed by his commission to "defer the further discovery of the passage until another time." There was much parleying and some skirmishing with the natives, and earnest but futile attempts were made to recover the men captured the previous year.

The return was begun on 23 August, and the Ayde reached Milford Haven on 23 September. The Gabriel and Michael later arrived separately at Bristol and Yarmouth.

Frobisher was received and thanked by the queen at Windsor. Great preparations were made and considerable expense incurred for the assaying of the great quantity of "ore" (about 200 tons) brought home. This took up much time, and led to considerable dispute among the various parties interested.

The third voyage

Meantime, the faith of the queen and others remained strong in the productiveness of the newly discovered territory, which she herself named Meta Incognita, and it was resolved to send out a larger expedition than ever, with all necessaries for the establishment of a colony of 100 men. Frobisher was again received by the queen, and Her Majesty threw a fine chain of gold around his neck.

On the 31 May 1578, the expedition, consisting in all of fifteen vessels, left Harwich, and sailing by the English Channel on 20 June reached the south of Greenland, where Frobisher and some of his men managed to land. On 2 July, the foreland of Frobisher Bay was sighted. Stormy weather and dangerous ice prevented the rendezvous from being gained, and, besides causing the wreck of the barque Dennis of 100 tons, drove the fleet unwittingly up a new strait (Hudson). After proceeding about sixty miles up this "mistaken strait," Frobisher with apparent reluctance turned back, and after many buffetings and separations, the fleet at last came to anchor in Frobisher Bay.

Some attempt was made at founding a settlement, and a large quantity of ore was shipped. Too much dissension and discontent prevented a successful settlement. On the last day of August, the fleet set out on its return to England, which was reached in the beginning of October. The ore was taken to a specially constructed smelting plant at Powder Mill Lane in Dartford. Kent. Despite many attempts, the ore was apparently not worth smelting and was eventually used in Elizabethan road construction. [4] This ended Frobisher's attempts at the Northwest Passage.

Action against the Spaniards, 1580-1588

In 1580, Frobisher was employed as captain of one of the queen's ships in preventing the plans of Spain to assist the Irish in their resistance of encroaching English rule, and in the same year obtained a grant of the reversionary title of clerk of the Royal Navy.

In 1585, he commanded the Primrose, as vice-admiral to Sir Francis Drake in his expedition to the West Indies. Soon afterwards, the country was threatened with invasion by the Spanish Armada, and Frobisher's name was one of four mentioned by the Lord High Admiral in a letter to the queen of "men of the greatest experience that this realm hath." For his signal services in the Triumph, in the dispersion of the Armada, Martin Frobisher was knighted. He continued to cruise about in the Channel until 1590, when he was sent in command of a small fleet to the coast of Spain.

Later life

In 1591, he visited his native Altofts, and there married his second wife, a daughter of Lord Wentworth, becoming at the same time a landed proprietor in Yorkshire and Notts. He found, however, little leisure for a country life, and the following year took charge of the fleet fitted out by Sir Walter Raleigh to the Spanish coast, returning with a rich prize.

In November 1594, he was engaged with a squadron in the siege and relief of Brest, when he received a gunshot wound at Fort Crozon,[5] a Spanish-held fortress and due to poor medical treatment, died days later at Plymouth on 15 November. His soft organs were buried at St Andrew's Church, Plymouth on 22 November. His body was then taken to London and buried at St Giles-without-Cripplegate.

Legacy

One of the four houses of Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough, is named after Frobisher, as is one of the four houses at Bishopsgate School in Englefield Green. In addition, the Royal Navy Hawkins class heavy cruiser HMS Frobisher was named after him.

References

  • Hoffman, A. (1977). Lives of the Tudor Age. New York: Barnes & Noble. 

Notes

  1. ^ Bumstead, J.M.. The Peoples of Canada: A Pre-Confederation History. Oxford University Press. pg 55. 
  2. ^ {{cite book|title=The Peoples of Canada: A Pre-Confederation History|first=J.M.|last=Bumstea

    The first voyage in search of the Northwest Passage

    As early as 1560 or 1561, Frobisher had formed a resolution to undertake a voyage in search of a Northwest Passage as a trade-route to India and China (referred to at that time as Cathay).

    It took him 15 years to gain the necessary funding for his project. In 1576 Frobisher managed to convince the Muscovy Company, an English merchant consortium which had previously sent out several parties searching for the Northwest Passage, to license his expedition. With the help of Micheal Lok, the Muscovy Company's director, Frobisher was able to raise enough capital for three barks: the Gabriel and Michael, of about 20-25 tons each, and a pinnace of ten tons, with a total crew of 35. <ref>{{cite book|title=The Peoples of Canada: A Pre-Confederation History|first=J.M.|last=Bumstead|publisher=Oxford University Press. pg 55|}} </li> <li id="wp-_note-2">'''[[#wp-_ref-2|^]]''' {{cite book|title=The Peoples of Canada: A Pre-Confederation History|first=J.M.|last=Bumstead|publisher=Oxford University Press. pg 56|}} </li> <li id="wp-_note-3">'''[[#wp-_ref-3|^]]''' {{cite book|title=The Peoples of Canada: A Pre-Confederation History|first=J.M.|last=Bumstead|publisher=Oxford University Press. pg 56|}} </li> <li id="wp-_note-4">'''[[#wp-_ref-4|^]]''' {{cite book|title=Hudson, Frobisher and the Early Exploration of Canada: Some Heraldic Puzzles|first=John J.|last=Kennedy|publisher=Académie internationale d'héraldique}} </li></ol></ref>

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Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Martin Frobisher" Read more

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