Martin Frobisher

Martin Frobisher
Sir Martin Frobisher by Cornelis Ketel, c. 1577
Born	c. 1535 or 1539 Altofts, Yorkshire
Died	November 15, 1594 (aged 59 or 55)= Plymouth, England
Occupation	Seaman

Sir Martin Frobisher (c. 1535 or 1539 – 15 November 1594) was an English seaman (born Altofts, 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 ore and carried 200 tons of it home on three ships, where initial assaying determined it to be worth a profit of £5.1 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 realized 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.

The First Voyage

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 5 years to gain 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 Northeast 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.^[1]

He weighed anchor at Blackwall, and, after having received a good word from Queen Elizabeth I of England at Greenwich, set sail on 7 June 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.

A few 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 Michael Lok and the Muscovy Company used this assessment to lobby for investment for another voyage.^[2]

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 May 27, 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 August 23, 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

Meanwhile, 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 3 June 1578, the expedition, consisting in all of fifteen vessels, left Plymouth, 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.

Later life

In 1591, he visited his native Altofts, and there married his second wife, Dorothy Wentworth, a daughter of Thomas, 1st Baron 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,^[3] 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 houses of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, is named after Frobisher, as is one of the four houses at Bishopsgate School in Englefield Green, and a house of Torquay Boys' Grammar School, Devon.

The Royal Navy Hawkins class heavy cruiser HMS Frobisher was named after him.

Martin Frobisher Infant/First/Primary School, Altofts, Yorkshire, is named after him.^[4]

Frobisher Bay, in the Canadian Territory of Nunavut, is named after him. It was also the former name of Nunavut's capital, Iqaluit, until 1987.

Frobisher House, adjacent to Southampton Central station, also bears his name.

References

• Hoffman, A. (1977). Lives of the Tudor Age. New York: Barnes & Noble. 
• Neatby, L.H., Martin Frobisher (ca. 1540-1594)

Notes

External links

• The Canadian Museum of Civilization - The Nunavut Voyages of Martin Frobisher
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

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