What do all these major geographical landmarks have in
common?
A powerful river, a city in New York, a small county in New
Jersey, a bridge linking Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx and Inwood in Manhattan,
an enormous bay - the second largest bay in the world after the Bay of Bengal -
and a Canadian strait connecting that bay to the Atlantic Ocean.
The answer is navigator, explorer and ship’s Commander,
Henry Hudson.
It took this Englishman to claim Manhattan Island, the jewel
in the crown of the New World, for the Dutch in September 1609.
Henry Hudson was born in London, England, during the
mid-to-late 1560’s. His family were wealthy merchants and his grandfather, also
Henry Hudson, was a founding member of the Merchant Adventurers, a trading
company which received a Royal Charter from King Edward in 1553, and which became
known as the Muscovy Company in 1555.
Hudson’s privileged background would have seen him educated
in cartography, navigation, mathematics and astronomy, all subjects that drew
him towards sailing and exploration.
A headstrong, courageous, bewhiskered man with dark hair and eyes, he
was married to a lady called Katherine and had three sons John, Richard and
Oliver.
Since the discovery of the riches of the Orient: Indian and
Chinese silk, spices, precious gemstones, porcelain and much more, competition
to find the quickest route to Cathay was intense. European nations fell over
themselves plotting and scouring maps, investing heavily in doubtful ventures:
monarchs, merchants and governments handed over substantial amounts of money to
trading companies in order to become even wealthier and more powerful.
The quest to find the coveted Northeast Passage, a northerly
route that would carve a pathway through to the Far East, was one fraught with
danger, skulduggery and murder. The theory behind the a possible passage was
that there existed a seaway that ran above the Artic Circle eastwards and ended
in China, its access only possible during three summer months when the sun
melted the northern ice packs.
Henry Hudson would attempt four of these explorative
ventures on behalf of merchant companies and, in doing so, would immortalise
his name.
Climactic conditions during the 17th Century were brutal.
Europe and America were in the throes of a Little Ice Age that had begun in the
13th Century, bringing winters so severe that rivers froze, frost fairs were
held on the River Thames in London, encroaching glaciers destroyed farms and
villages in Switzerland, the freezing winter of 1607-08 claimed the lives of
excessive numbers of settlers and natives in Maine and in Jamestown, Virginia
extreme frost was reported and Samuel de Champlain recalled bearing ice along
the shores of Lake Superior in June 1608.
So, not only was the quest for the Northeast Passage one of
national competition, laden with treachery and greed, it was also set against a
backdrop of sub zero temperatures, impenetrable pack ice, unrelenting
blizzards, frostbite and death.
The London Muscovy Company commissioned Hudson’s services
and on May 1st, 1607, he captained the 80-ton ship, Hopewell, with ten crewmen and a ship’s boy. By June, Hudson
had reached Greenland and travelled northwards along its coast, across the
Arctic Circle and a month later entered what Hudson called, ‘Whales Bay’.
Shortly after, he met with an impenetrable wall of ice and returned to Tilbury
Hope, England, in September 1607.
His next trek was funded by the London East India and
Muscovy Companies in 1608. Again, Hudson was Commander of Hopewell, but this time he would follow an easterly route
sailing above Russia. He sailed in April, but finding his path blocked by ice
packs he turned around and landed back in Gravesend, Kent in August.
In 1609, Hudson he accepted a commission from the Dutch East
India Company to once again find an easterly passage to the Indies. Leaving
Amsterdam in April on Halve Maen (Half
Moon), a three-mast carrack, he was thwarted once more by the inevitable
barrier of ice above the Arctic Circle. This time though he did not head home,
but rather took a westerly passage skirting Newfoundland and reaching Nova
Scotia in late July. This decision was based on reports from previous explorers
in the area, John Smith of Jamestown and Samuel de Champlain, citing Native
American knowledge of a western route to Cathay.
In August he arrived at Cape Cod, foreswore exploring the
entrance to Chesapeake Bay, and sailed north and found Delaware Bay. In
September he reached the estuary of the North River or Muhheakunnuk (Mohican
for ‘Great Waters constantly in Motion’) - now the Hudson River. After a
skirmish with local natives, in which a crewmember died, Hudson travelled
upriver as far as what would become Fort Orange or present day Albany. This
journey would give the Dutch territorial claim to the island lying off the
starboard side of Halve Maen - Manhattan
Island.
Hudson would say of the island:
“The land is the finest for cultivation that I have
ever in my life set foot upon, and it also abounds
in trees of every description.”
—Henry
Hudson
Hudson’s voyage ended back in England in November 1609.
Although he was detained by English authorities, who were upset at his working
for the Dutch, his log was passed over to the Dutch Ambassador for England and
handed to the Dutch East India Company officials in Amsterdam.
His final voyage in 1610 was under the English flag again.
Funding from the English East India Company and the Virginia Company saw him
take the helm of a new ship Discovery,
with a remit to find the Northwest Passage. Rounding the southern tip of
Greenland in early June he reached what is now known as the Hudson Strait and
entered Hudson Bay at the beginning of August. He did not find the illusive
passage to the Far East. November saw him trapped in ice in James Bay. Having
survived a bleak winter on land, the crew wanted to go home, but Hudson did
not. The crew mutinied and eventually Hudson, his son John and a few crewmen were
forced into a small boat, with inadequate provisions for their survival, and
that was the last that anyone saw of Henry Hudson. It was June 1611.
What an ignominious death for such a brave, intrepid
explorer.
Check out my novel, Manhattan Legacy, for further reading on 17th century life.
Read my novel Manhattan Legacy available on Lulu.com
You can buy Manhattan Legacy in various ebook formats on Smashwords
For a really interesting look at Henry Hudson through original documents collated in 1860 check out the University of Pittsburgh's archives on the subject:
https://archive.org/details/henryhudsonnavig27ashe
Check out my novel, Manhattan Legacy, for further reading on 17th century life.
Read my novel Manhattan Legacy available on Lulu.com
You can buy Manhattan Legacy in various ebook formats on Smashwords
For a really interesting look at Henry Hudson through original documents collated in 1860 check out the University of Pittsburgh's archives on the subject:
https://archive.org/details/henryhudsonnavig27ashe
