William Baffin: Encyclopedia Arctica 15: Biographies
William Baffin
Encyclopedia Arctica
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William Baffin
Arctic explorers, first appears in history in 1612 as pilot on board the Patience ,
commanded by James Hall (q.v.) on a voyage to Greenland. Although he
made seven recorded voyages of great importance, five of them to the
Arctic , and contributed immeasurably to the science of navigation and to
geographical knowledge,
appears as an experienced seaman in the prime of life
Markham (q.v.) writes that he has been baffled in all his attempts to find
even a single fact respecting
parish register in London and its suburbs was searched and only six persons
of the name of Baffin were found, three, including a William, being adults
who died of the plague in 1609. A daughter of a William Baffin, named
Susan, was baptized in the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, in Vintry
Ward in the City of London, on October 15, 1609, three years before Baffin
joined Hall's expedition. Markham writes, "This Ward includes Queenhithe,
a landing-place frequented by sailors, and a likely locality for a seaman
to take up his abode while on shore. We know that Baffin had a wife, for
she gave a good deal of trouble to the East India Company after his death.
Susan may have been his daughter.
Londoner, must have been constantly at sea, and probably raised himself by
his good conduct and talent, from a very humble position". A kingdom-wide
search of parish registers yielded no other instances of the name, nor was
there any indication whatsoever of the name at Hull, the place where Baffin
first appears to us. Markham says, "If Baffin was not a Hull man, he probably
was not known to Captain Hall. It may, therefore be conjectured that one of
the merchant adventurers associated with Hall in the voyage, perhaps Sir
William Baffin
Thomas Smithhim as chief pilot of the Patience .2
service, for further search for the Northwest Passage, for trade on the
coast of Greenland, and for getting ore from the mines which
covered in 1605 and which he believed to contain great wealth in silver,
but which, like Frobisher's (q.v.) mines, turned out to be worthless. Hall,
chief promoter of this voyage, was joined in his enterprise by several
other London adventurers, including Smith, and the expedition consisted
of two ships, the Patience , with Hall and Baffin on board, and the Heartsease ,
commanded by Andrew Barker of Hull.
April 22, and Hall made direct for Cape Farewell, which he sighted on May 14,
keeping close along the belt of ice lying off shore in order to avail him–
self of any opportunity of getting through to the land. He was thus able to
examine a portion of the coast which he had not previously observed, A green and
inviting
vessels came to land in about 64° 15′', at the mouth of an inlet which was
named the Harbor of Hope. This was Davis's (q.v.) Gilbert Sou
is now the settlement of Gothaab. Hall with Baffin explored the fjord and
named tow of its arms Bell and Lancaster Rivers after two of his partners.
Hall and Baffin then took the smaller of the vessels, the Heartsease , and
went northwards to explore, going as far as Christian and Cunningham Fjord in 67° 25′
[Transpose] Fjord in 66° 54′ the southernmost points which Hall had previously visited. They then
went south again to Rommel's Fjord (Holsten s borg) in 66° 54′, and on June 27
met the Patience in Cockin or Cockayne Sound (Sukkertoppen) in 65° 25′.
number on previous voyages, and in revenge they murdered him. The expedition
returned to England under the command of Andrew Barker, with Baffin now on
William Baffin
board the Heartsease , and arrived around the middle of September.unfortunately, only a fragment, printed by Purchas, has been preserved. 56
The other, written by John Gatonbe, or Gatonby, quartermaster on board
the Heartsease , has been preserved in full in Churchill's Collection of
Cock
on the Greenland coast, including the death of Hall, and his burial, in
accordance with his w
killed.
and eight for variation. He always used every opportunity of taking astron–
omical observations, and especially of testing methods of finding longitude.
He
of the moon's culmination, and his method describes in detail
as the first man who ever attempted to take a lunar observation at sea.
interest. He describes the northwest part of Greenland as "an exceedingly
high land to the sea-ward, and almost nothing but mountaynes...all of
stone, some of one colour, and some of another, and all glistering, as
though they were of rich value". Their ore, however, he says, is valueless,
on the authority of
thinks there may be ore of value deeper in the mountains, which cannot be
so easily come by. He describes the "rocks" (quartz) in these mountains,
"finer and whiter than alabaster"; the moss and grass in the valleys, "with
Check possibility of angelica a little branch running all along the ground, bearing a little black ber–
rie". He says they found in many places much angelica, and supposed "the
people eat the roots thereof, for some causes, for we have seene them
have many of them in their boats". Though there were few trees, he says that he saw
[ ]
William Baffin
forty miles inland, on Ball's River, "on the south side of an high moun–tayne, which we went up,...a young
or seuen foot high, like a coppice in England that had beene some two or
three yeers cut; and this was the most wood that wee saw growing in this
country, being some of it a kind of willow, juniper, and such like". He goes
on to describe the animal life: the foxes "of sundry colours", the hares,
the deer, the latter being "most commonly up within the Mayne very farre;
because the people doe so much hunt them that come neere the sea". He has
"seene the footsteps of some beast, whose foote was bigger than the foot
of a great oxe". The dogs are "like unto wol
doe".
land Eskimos. Like other
pressed by their boats, both the small ones, of which he describes as in
the form of a weaver's shuttle, and so swiftly maneuvered that "no ship in
the world is able to keepe way with them"; and the
much as thirty-two feet long, with ten seats, in which they carry their
goods and household stuff; "for they remooue their dwellings very often,
as their fishing doth serve, liuing in the summer-time in tents made of
seales skinnes, and in winter in houses somewhat in the ground". He says
that-
they might be sun-worshippers, as "at their first approach
vsed with their hands to point vp to the sunne, and to strike their hands
upon ther brests [crying] Ilyout; as who would say, I meane no harme;
...and will not come neer you vntil you do the like, and then they will come
without any feare at all". (Davis gives the same word with the same meaning —
"Yliaoute", "I mean no harm".)
in stone graves or caves, on top of the ground, on the hilltops, with the
William Baffin
weapons and other furnishings of the dead buried with them. He saysas far as could be perceived they ate all their food raw
"drinke the salt-water at our shippes side; but whether it be usuall or no,
I cannot tell".
"man-eaters", Baffin did not think so, "for if they had bin so minded, they
might at one time haue caught our cooke, and two other with him, as they
were filling of water at an Iland a great way from ovr ship". But it
turned out that the great company of "sauages" that came rowing up were
merely looking "for nayles, or any old iron, which they so greatly desire,
while our men were in such a feare that they knew not what to doe. At length
our cooke remembered that he had some old iron in his pocket, and gaue
each of them some, as farre as it would goe, with his key of his chest.
And presently they all departed, without offering any harme at all...".
Muscovy Company. This company of merchant adventurers, in which Sir
Thomas Smith was a
to Spitsbergen in 1610, 1611 and 1612 to follow up Hudson's (q.v.) dis–
coveries there in 1607-8, to pursue the attempt to find a passage straight
across the Pole, and to investigate the possibilities of an English whal–
ing enterprise. These voyages resulted in a profitable industry, and
1613
foreign, from the Spitsbergen waters. They equipped a fleet of six armed
vessels, which drove away from the Spitsbergen coast fifteen sail of Dutch,
French and Biscayan ships.
on a whaling expedition, under the command of Captain Benjamin Joseph. This is called "Baffin's
second voyage". Baffin was chief pilot, on board the Tiger , of 260 tons,
with Cpatain Joseph. Twenty-four Biscayan whale
voyage and one Biscayan ship had permission to go along and fish. They de-
William Baffin
parted May 13 and made Spitsbergen in eighteen days. Baffin wrote a nar–rative of the voyage, which was printed by Purchas
this account that the English found as many as seventeen foreign ships
on the Spitsbergen coast--four Dutch, two Dunkirkers, four from St. Jean
de Luz and seven from St. Sebastian. All submitted to the English, and a
few were allowed to remain and fish on the condition of surrendering half
their catch. The Company's fleet returned safely in September with full
cargoes.
astronomical
and tells us he used a quadrant of four feet semidiameter in taking his
altitudes. His most interesting observation was for sun's refraction,
although there appear to be several mistakes in the record of it.
account of the voyage, probably written by Robert Fotherby, is extant.
the command of Benjamin Joseph, with Baffin as pilot. This c
eleven ships and two pinnaces. Baffin
Thomasine , with Robert Fotherby, who had been a member of the previous
expedition. There is unfortunatly no extant account of the voyage by Baffin
detailed narrative, written by Fotherby, is printed by Purchas.
fleet left England April 16, but on account of bad weather and ice did
not reach the Spitsbergen coast until June. Baffin and Fotherby were
more interested in exploration than in whaling, and during the summer
made persevering attempts to extend discovery to the eastward, along the
north coast of Spitsbergen. They set out in two shallops, and on several
occasions advanced eastwards, until they were stopped by the ice. Early
in August they reached "Wiches Sound"
maps). Here they walked up a high hill and saw"another fair sound", and
resolved to "make further search alongst this shoare, and to proceede with
William Baffin
our shallops so farre as we possibly could". They observed the latitude,which they found to be 79° 54′.
they "hastened towards them, to see who were therein", and found men
from the Heartsease , commanded by Thomas Marmaduke (q.v.). They had left
their ship in the ice, about a league from Red Beach (on the North coast,
at the western entrance of Liefde Bay). "Here", writes Fotherby, "they
were setting vp a crosse, which they said that they found there fallen
downe, and had beene formerly set vp, in the time of Master Marmaduke's
first discouery, by one Laurence Prestwood, whose name I saw there on engrauen,
with two or three names more, and it had the date of the seuenteenth of
August 1612. Vpon this crosse they nailed the Kings armes".
from 82° N. latitude.) Baffin and Fotherby walked from Wiches Sound until
they came to the entrance of Sir Thomas Smith's Inlet (Hinlopen Strait).
They returned to their shallops, and with great difficulty,
of the ice, to their ship. Fotherby describes
describes
erers of the North-West Passage, of which the leading directors were Sir
Thomas Smith, Sir Dudley Digges and Sir John Wolstenholme (q.v.). Members of
this Company, before its charter, had in 1610 sent Henry Hudson (q.v.) to see if
a passage might be discovered through any of the inlets described by Davis.
This resulted in
eastern side of the Bay. In 1612 they had sent Sir Thomas Button (q.v.) for
the same purpose, and he discovered the western side of Hudson Bay and re–
ported discouraging prospects for a passage in that direction, but felt
very strongly that one might exist through what is now
report led the Company, which had received its charter during his absence,
William Baffin
to send out out the1614.
Hudson and Button had made important discoveries. Robert Bylot (q.v.), who
had been in the three previous voyages, was in command, and Baffin was his
pilot. The little Discovery , of about fifty-five tons
ship of
voyage.
printed by Purchas, but the manuscript, preserved in the British Museum, 200
is fuller, and was first edited by Rundall and published by the Hakluyt
Society. Markham writes: "An excellent system of keeping log books, inaug–
urated by Sebastian Cabot, was enforced by the Muscovy Company, and the
officer of its ships were expected to take frequent astronomical observa–
tions. Baffin, who had a natural love for such work,
training while serving under the Company in his two Spitsbergen voyages,
and he continued the same admirable system in his western enterprises under
the North-West Passage Company".
tabulated log book, and in delineating the coast on his map, which is pre–
served with the manuscript. Though he made many maps, this is the only
one which has come down to us
ing his
the coasts. A facsimile of this beautiful illuminated map is reproduced
in Markham's edition of Baffin's voyages. Following the letter is the
tabulated log book, entitled The Breefe Journall . Then follows "A Tru
of a passage to the north west, performed in the yeare 1615"
as a man well experienced in Arctic navigation. He tells us the ir ship left
William Baffin
England March 16, and that, after "an indifferent good passage", theysaw land on May 6, on the coast of Greenland on the east side of Cape
Farewell.
course until
like firm ice, although, says Baffin, it was indeed "many pieces drawn
together". Captain Bylot asked his opinion concerning putting into the
ice, and Baffin's judgment was that it would be best for them to stand
somewhat more northward, to see if they could find any more likely place,
for there they could not discern where to put in the ship's head. Bylot
answered that they were as far to the northward as the south end of
Resolution Island, and now had all the south channel southward of them,
"and through much ice we must goe". If they could get some three or four
leagues within the ice, it would open at every tide, and they would get
a little ahead on their way, now that the weather was fair; butand ifit
should blow hard, then they would have to enter the ice anyway.
then says: "I could not say much agaynst his op[i]nion, beinge indeede in
the latitude of 61 deg. 26′, and hee knew the manner of this ice better
then my selfe, so presently we resolved to put into the ice". Baffin ad–
mits that he did not like "this first entrance" very well.
little progress toward the entrance to Hudson Strait on account of the
ice, and on May 22
some 20 dayes therein, to trye what hopes that wayes would afford", but
changed his mind the next day when they were clear of the ice. On May 27
they saw Resolution Island, and on May 30 they were within Hudson Strait,
on the west side of Resolution Island, where they anchored. They went
ashore on the island, which they found rocky and stony, with "hardly any–
thing growing thereon which is green". They saw "no certain sign of inhab–
itants, but only the track of bears and foxes".
William Baffin
at one of them on June 8.
and, going to the top of a hill, they saw a "great canoe or boat", with
about fourteen people in it. Baffin called to them, "using some words of
Groynlandish speeche" and making signs of friendship. The Eskimos did the
like, but, since they seemed to be afraid, and Baffin did not know whether
he could trust them, he showed them a knife and other objects, which he
left on top of the hill for the m , Then he and his party returned to the
tents, and took from them some whale fins which they found and a small
leather bag containing "a company of little images of men, and one the
image of a woman with a child at hir backe", leaving in return knives,
beads, etc. Baffin tells us that the apparel, boats, tents, etc., of
these people are much like those of the inhabitants of Greenland; but
stresses the point that the
are not so neat and are not such good artificers as the Greenlanders.
Hudson Strait, Baffin constantly taking observations, noting the tides, etc.
Sir Edward Parry, passing over the same ground in 1821, confirmed Baffin's
observations on the tides, and found his latitudes to be nearly correct.
On June 19 they arrived about midway up the Strait at a "poynt of ilands"
which, says Baffin, "I after called Fair Ness [ still so called ] , by reason
of the fayre wether we had at this place, for from this 19 daye till the 27
daye (yea till the 30) the wether was so faire, cleare and calme, that it
was more then extraordinary in this place, and we so fast closed up with
ice, that many tymes one could not well dip a payle of water".
how the mariners spent the days while they were locked in the ice in such
beautiful weather. Some days they shot at " butts " with bows and arrows, other
times they played stool ball
William Baffin
I have begun to speak of exercise, I think it not amiss to relate onedayes exercise of my owne".
plete lunar observation ever, so far as is known, taken at sea. Markham,
discussing this observation, says that its elements were observed alti–
tudes of sun and moon, and angular distance probably measured by
of azimuth. He then
effects of parallax and refraction, would give the true distance, and the
longitude could be found by using the right ascensions of the sun and moon,
without the aid of the tables of lunar distances now given in the Nautical
Almanack .
the whole attempt was merely experimental and tentative. But it shows that
Baffin was acquainted with the method of finding longitude by observing the
altitude of the moon and some other heavenly body, and measuring the angular
distance between them; a method first suggested in 1514 by Werner, and again
in 1545 by Gemma Frisius. It enable us to claim for Baffin the honour of
being the first who ever attempted to take a lunar at sea. Baffin also re–
cords, during the voyage up Hudson
longitude by lunar culmination".
the whole of July and August was spent in cruising about among the ice and
islands
is now known as Fox Channel. Baffin named Seahorse Point on the southeast–
ern end of Southampton Island, and other places previously unnamed. Christy
says: "Although the amount of original discovery effected on this voyage was 300
but small, the coasts of the regions visited were for the first time laid
down with tolerable accuracy on a chart; and we may fairly say...that Bylot
and Baffin 'lighted' Foxe into his Channel".
William Baffin
in England, anchoring in Plymouth Sound, September 7, without the lossof one man.
the prospect of passage, He
that he is doubtful if it is to be sought through Hudson Strait. The great–
est "indraft", he says, comes from Davis Strait, and "the mayne will be
upp Fretum Davis". It was doubtless this opinion of Baffin's which moved the company
of Discoverers of the North-West Passage to prepare, the following spring,
yet another expedition in search of the Passage, which was to explore, as
Baffin had recommended, the further extremity of Davis Strait. This was
Baffin's
was written by Baffin himself.
thus made her sixth and last recorded Arctic voyage. The ship, with seventeen
persons on board, set sail from Gravesend March 26, 1616. They had a good
passage, and the first land they sighted was on May 14, "in Fretum Davis, on the coast
of Groinland, in the latitude of 65° 20′", writes Baffin. (This would be
voyage.) Here they gave pieces of iron to the Eskimos, who were
pointed that they did mot tarry, and followed the ship for awhile in their
boats. At 70° 20′ they "came to anchor in a faire sound (neere the place
Master Dauis called London Coast)". (This would be in the neighborhood of
Disko Island, whose north point is in 70° 20′ N.) Here the Eskimos fled at
sight of the Englishmen, who stayed for two days to take in
fast to it, and got as much whale-bone as they could before the whale broke
loose. By May 30 they came to Hope Sanderson, "the farthest land Master
Dauis was at, lying between 72 and 73°". (Davis gives the latitude of Hope
William Baffin
Sanderson at 72° 12′ N.) Here they ran into much ice, which they put into,plying all the next day to get through it. Then they put in among a group
of islands, where the Eskimos again fled from them, "leauing their tents
behinde, and vpon a small rocke they hid two young maides, or women. Our
ship riding not farre off, we espyed them, to whom our master, with some
other of our companie, went in the boate, they making signes to be carried
to the iland, where their tents were close adioyning. When they came thither
they found two old women more...". They later saw another woman with a
child at her back, and they named the islands Womens Islands (now Upernavik
Island and the surrounding islets). Baffin here gives another description
of the Greenland Eskimos and their customs, noting particularly the tattoo–
ing of the women.
were probably those now know n as the Baffin Islands, north of Cape Shackleton.
Here Baffin noted signs of habitation, but observes that the people had that
year not
pack, "but this attempt was soon quailed
put in for the shore again.
cause the Eskimos there gave them "many peeces of the bone or horne of the
sea vnicorne", in addition to sealskins, etc., in exchange for the usual
iron and trinkets.
75° 40′, which
caused them to run along the land again, and Baffin named a point, which ac–
cording to him was in 76° 35′, Sir Dudley Digges (q.v.) Cape. Twelve leagues
distant from this they discovered a sound, which they named Wolstenholme
Sound (still so called). They were forced to drift in a storm and found
themselves imbayed in a great sound which they named Whale Sound because
they saw great numbers of whales in it.(Hval Sund on modern maps).
William Baffin
fair weather"it being backed with land" .
stand back some eight leagues to an island which they named Ha [ ] luyt's
Isle--"it lyeth betweene two great Sounds, the one Whale Sound, and the other
Sir Thomas Smith's Sound; this last runneth to the north of 78°, and is
admirable in one respect, because it is the greatest variation of the
compasse of any part of the world known".
various islands in lower Smith Sound, a group of which they named the
Carey (or Cary) Islands, "all which Sounds and ilands", he says, "the map doth
truly describe
of this voyage is an irremediable one.
us: "This map of the author for this and the former voyage, with the
tables of his iournall and sayling, were somewhat troublesome and too
costly to insert".
James Lancaster, voyager to the East Indies and himself a promoter of
all contemporary voyages of discovery. Here, says Baffin, their hope of a passage be–
gan to lessen every day, for from this sound to the southward they had a
ledge of ice between the shore and themselves. The ice"led" them into
latitude 65° 40′, he writes, and then they left off"seeking to the west
shoare" because they were in the "indraft" of Cumberland Sound. Since the
year was so far spent, they decided to run across to Greenland and put in
at Cockin Sound for refreshm
a little island near this sound and found a great abundance of the herb
called scurvy grass. This they boiled in beer and drank, "using it also
in sallets, with sorrell and orpen, which here greweth in abundance; by
means hereof, and the blessing of God, all our men within eight or nine
William Baffin
Insert for p. 14of discrimination which led to his omission, his failure to print the tab–
ulated journal and map led to such geographical blunders and to such con–
fusion , during the next
came to be doubted.
that the
in his edition of Baffin's voyages, traces the history of these errors re–
specting Baffin Bay by means of an
William Baffin
dayes space were in perfect health, and so continued till our arriuallin England". They arrived August 30.
the prospect of a passage through Davis Strait and its upper reaches ,
now called Baffin Bay for their discoverer. He had lost hope that the
search in this direction would be more fruitful than through Hudson
Strait, and sets forth his reasons in very clear fashion. He then stress–
es the profit to be derived from a whaling industry in the Greenland wa–
ters. He modestly mentions the contributions to knowledge of his own 400
geographical discoveries and scientific observations. This letter was
fortunately printed by Purchas along with the narrative, and it is these
two documents which furnish us with the main incidents of Baffin's great
discovery
now made five voyages to the Arctic Regions. The fiords and islets of
West Greenland, the glaciers and ice floes of Spitzbergen, the tidal
phenomena of Hudson's Straits, and the unveiled geographical secrets of
the far northern bay, were all familiar to him. He had practically sought
out, and deeply pondered over the absorbing questions of polar discovery. As
an astronomical observer and navigator, his unwearied diligence was as re–
markable as his talent, and in this branch of study he was certainly in ad–
vance of his contemporaries. If he was a self-taught man, who had risen
from a humble origin, he had so far educated himself as to be able to
write letters which are not only well-expressed, but graced with classical
allusions. He was probably past middle age when, in August 1616, he returned
from his great discovery, and sought for some new employment".
William Baffin
problems could be effaced from Baffin's mind. Like John Davis before him,he conceived the idea of attempting the passage from Japan and the coast
of Asia. Purchas tells us that Baffin told him, before his untimely death
"in the late Ormus businesse", "that hee would, if hee might get employment,
search the passage from Japan, by the coast of Asia ( qua data porta ) any
way he could". The employment which he found in the hope of carrying out
this ambition was
the winter of 1616, was preparing its fleet for its seventh joint-stock
voyage early in the following year. It was to be commanded by Captain
Martin Pring, on board the Royal James . Baffin
as master's mate on the Anne Royal , commanded by Andrew Shilling.
Bay
Pring was obliged to use force to
a number were obtained, and the sick men, cured by the fresh meat, soon grew
strong again.
coast of India. The Company then decided to send Captain Shilling to the
Red Sea. "for settling an English trade in those parts". Instructions were
drawn up by Sir Thomas Roe (q.v.), Ambassador at the Court of the Mogul.
The Anne Royal , with Baffin aboard, anchored off Mocha April 13, 1618. The
merchants went ashore with presents for the Governor, and Shilling succeeded
in obtaining a grant from the Pasha for English merchants to trade at Mocha and
Aden.
benefit of the sick aboard, to procure ballast, and to explore the coast.
Here Baffin occupied himself
year sent to the Persian Gulf. Baffin again made use of his time in observing
William Baffin
and surveying the coasts. Returning to Surat, the Anne Royal commenced her home.ward voyage in February 1619 and arrived in the Thames in September.
appears the following entry: "William Baffyn, a master's mate in the Anne , to hav
a gratuity for his pains and good art in drawing out certain plots of the coast
of Persia and the Red Sea, which are judged to have been very well and artifi–
cially [ i.e., artfully ] performed; some to be drawn out by Adam Bowen, for the
benefit of such as shall be employed in those parts". (Adam Bowen was a clerk
employed
prepare copies of charts.)
command, aboard a great new ship named the London
special recommendation of Captain Shilling, was appointed her master, and thus
received command of a ship for the first time.
ships had been
cept and attack the English ships. The latter then went in search of the enemy,
and December 16 ,1620, came in sight of two large Portuguese ships and two smaller
Flemish vessels.
sion for nine hours. The Portuguese then anchored to repair damages, and the
English ships put into Jashak Roads.
ten days and a second encounter took place on December 28. Captain Shilling was
wounded, and died on January 6, 1621. Captain Blithe, of the Harte , assumed command.
It was then
season, and was
put into the port of Sur, on the Oman coast, and found water and palm trees.
Here they remained at anchor until August 15, when the
India.
William Baffin
the Portuguese out of the island of Ormuz by a joint attack. Thisisland, in the Persian Gulf, had been occupied by the Viceroy Affonso
Albuquerque the Great in 1515, and a strong fort had been built there
by the Portuguese, and an exorbitant tribute exacted from the people.
The English fleet arrived off the town of Ormuz on January 20, 1622, and
found the Portuguese already beleaguered by a Persian army.
and throw up batteries. The siege commenced, and after two days Baffin
went on shore with his mathematical instruments to take the height and
distance of the castle walls in order to find the range "for the better
levelling of his piece. But as he was about the same, he received a
shot from the castle." Purchas says: "In the Indies he dyed, in the late
Ormus businesse, slain in fight with a shot, as hee was trying his
mathematicall proiects and conclusions." This was on January 23, 1622.
Early in February the Portuguese surrendered.
described as impatient and troublesome, which appears to have been due
to her pressing claims for money due her deceased husband. She eventually
received £500. He probably left no surviving children, for we do not
hear of any, either as claimants to his property or as recipients of
the charity of the Company, as in the case of Henry Hudson's son and
the children of other men who had served the Company well.
of exploration where a man highly respected in his day fell into gradual
disrepute, to be vindicated by later generations. The outstanding case
is, of course, that of Pytheas, who had a topmost reputation while he
lived and a good reputation for a century or two thereafter, but who
William Baffin
then declined in the esteem of scholars until his name became asynonym for Ananias, and so remained for nearly two thousand years.
A pioneer in the rehabilitation of Pytheas was Sir Clements Markham,
president of the Royal Geographical Society of London. Markham was
also a pioneer in the vindication of Baffin, who had sunk so low that
many were beginning to feel that his work was of little consequence.
Now Pytheas ranks with the half-dozen greatest explorers of all time,
and Baffin with the dozen greatest in the field of arctic exploration.
Purchas, Samuel Purchas his Pilgrimes , London, 1625, Vol. III
Churchill, John Collection of Voyages and Travels , London, 1732, Vol. VI
Fotherby, Robert "A Short Discourse of a Voyage made in the Yeare of
our Lord 1613, to the Late Discouered Countrye of
Greenland; and a Briefe Discription of the same
Countrie, and the Comodities ther raised to the
Adventurers," in
Transactions and Collections of the
American Antiquarian Society
(1860), Vol. IV
Markham, Clements R. (ed.)
The Voyages of William Baffin, 1612-1622
,
London, Hakluyt Society, 1881
Gosch, C.C.A. (ed.)
Danish Arctic Expeditions, 1605 to 1620
, Book I,
London, Hakluyt Society, 1897
Rundall, Thomas
Narratives of Voyages towards the North-West
, London,
Hakluyt Society, 1849
Christy, Miller (ed.)
The Voyages of Captain Luke Foxe of Hull, and
Captain Thomas James of Bristol, in Search of a
North-West Passage, in 1631-32
, London, Hakluyt Society,
1894
Dictionary of National Biography article, William Baffin
William Baffin
Persian Gulf, had been occupied by the Viceroy Affonso Albuquerque the
Great in 1515, and a strong fort had been built there by the Portuguese,
and an exor
off the town of Ormuz on January 20, 1622, and found the Portuguese already
beleaguered by a Persian army.
guns from each ship and throw up batteries. The siege commenced, and after
two days Baffin went on shore with his mathematical instruments to take the
height and distance of the castle walls in order to find the range "for the-
better levelling of his piece. But as he was about the same, he received a shot
from the castle "
mediately".
slain in fight with a shot, as hee was trying his mathematicall proiects and
conclusions". This was on January 23, 1622.
in February the Portuguese surrendered.
pears to have been due to her pressing claims for money due her deceased hus–
band.
no surviving children, for we do not hear of any, either as claimants to
his property or as recipients of the charity of the Company, as in the case
of Henry Hudson's son and the children of other men who had served the Com–
pany well.
pears to have been due to her pressing claims for money due her deceased hus–
band.
her to have patience awhile. On November 21 of the same year, she appeared
before the Company's Court in person, accompanied by a Mr. Robert Bourne, and
"made demand of her husband's estate, who deceased in the Indies in the Com–
pany's service". The Court told them that "if Baffin's estate were questioned
it might prove dangerous to the widow, especially if it be true, which she
pretends, that he carried £600 out in money, a thing utterly unlawful". The
[Figure]
William Baffin
Omit Court proposed arbitration, and the affair dragged out for several years.Finally, in January, 1628,
in satisfaction of all claims in full, provided that she, her friend Mr.
Bourne, and her second husband, should join in a discharge to the Company.
It was said that she was then advanced in years and deaf, and "had made
an unequal choice of a man not the best governed". At any rate, the Court
promised so to work
care of out of the funds allotted by the grant.
Samuel Purchas: Purchas his Pilgrimes , London, 1625, Vol. III
John Churchill: Collection of Voyages and Travels , London, 1732, Vol. VI
Robert Fotherby: "A Short Discourse of a Voyage made in the Yeare of Our Lord
1613, to the Late Discouered Countrye of Greenland; and a Briefe
Discription of the same Countrie, and the Comodities ther raised
to the Adventurers", in
Transactions and Collections of the American
Antiquarian Society
(1860), Vol. IV,
Clements R. Markham(ed.):
The Voyages of William Baffin
, 1612-1622, London,
Hakluyt Society, 1881
C.C.A. Gosch
(ed.)
:
Danish Arctic Expeditions, 1605 to 1620
, Book I, London,
Hakluyt Society, 1897
Thomas Rundall:
Narratives of Voyages [] towards the North-West
, London,
Hakluyt Society, 1849
Miller Christy (ed.):
The Voyages of Captain Luke Foxe of Hull, and Captain
Thomas James of Bristol, in Search of a North-West Passage, in
1631-32
, London, Hakluyt Society, 1894
Dictionary of National Biography : article, William [] Baffin
in the history of exploration where a man highly respected
in his day fell into gradual disrepute, to be vindicated
by later generations. The outstanding case is, of course,
that of Pytheas, who had a topmost reputation while he lived
and a good reputation for a century or two thereafter, but
who then declined in the esteem of scholars until his name
became a synonym for Ananias, and so remained for nearly
two thousand years. A pioneer in
Sir Clement s Markham, president of the Royal Geographical
Society of London. Markham was also a pioneer in the vindi–
cation of Baffin, who had sunk so low that many were begin–
ning to feel that his work was of little consequence. Now
Pytheas ranks with the half-dozen greatest explorers of
all time, and Baffin with the dozen greatest in the field
of Arctic exploration.