Sir Thomas Button (died April, 1634) was a Welsh officer of the Royal Navy and Explorer who in 1612–1613 commanded an expedition that unsuccessfully attempted to locate explorer Henry Hudson and to navigate the Northwest Passage. It was, nonetheless, a voyage of discovery.
Button sailed from England about the beginning of May 1612, in two ships; Resolution and Discovery and reached the mouth of a river which he named the Nelson after a member of the ships company who had died.[1] They wintered there at Port Nelson and the next year headed north to search for the Northwest Passage. They lost the Resolution to sea ice and continued on to 65° North. He discovered and named Mansel Island and returned to England in September 1613.[2] He is credited with exploring and securing the west coast of Hudson Bay for his country. He named the area New North Wales and New South Wales.
He continued on to have a successful naval career and became an Admiral although he had a long quarrel with the English Admiralty which was nearing resolution in his favour at the time of his death.
References
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2008) |
- ^ Robert Hood, C. Stuart Houston (1994). To the Arctic by Canoe, 1819-1821: The Journal and Paintings of Robert Hood, Midshipman with Franklin. Google Books. p. 23. ISBN 9780773512221. http://books.google.ca/books?id=hPvCru48DL0C&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=%22Mansel+Island%22+OR+%22Ile+Mansel%22+OR+%22Isle+Mansel%22&source=bl&ots=nJiwcpBoWL&sig=YZ0WddHWDU8J7S6DryPL2dmQYlY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=16&ct=result#PPA14,M1. Retrieved 2008-09-28. "Port Nelson, on the north shore of the peninsula and only twelve miles from York Factory, preceded York as an H.B.C. post in 1682-83. It is at the mouth of the Nelson River, discovered by Sir Thomas Button in 1612 and named after Button's sailing master, who died on the voyage."
- ^ Robert Hood, C. Stuart Houston (1994). To the Arctic by Canoe, 1819-1821: The Journal and Paintings of Robert Hood, Midshipman with Franklin. Google Books. p. 16. ISBN 9780773512221. http://books.google.ca/books?id=hPvCru48DL0C&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=%22Mansel+Island%22+OR+%22Ile+Mansel%22+OR+%22Isle+Mansel%22&source=bl&ots=nJiwcpBoWL&sig=YZ0WddHWDU8J7S6DryPL2dmQYlY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=16&ct=result#PPA14,M1. Retrieved 2008-09-28. "...named by Button in 1613, after Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Mansel (1573-1653)."
External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Manitoba Historical Society Biography of Button
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