Thomas Button - 1612-1613

Accomplishments:

• the purpose of Button's voyage was to confirm the existence or non-existence of a Northwest Passage
• unfortunately, he found his course blocked by the western shore of Hudson Bay and gave his landfall the name "Hopes Checked"
• he wintered at Port Nelson and in the spring skirted the mainland coast to Roes Welcome Sound and, returning south, followed the west and south shores of Southampton Island, passed Coats and Mansel Islands and arrived at the Digges Islands
• here Button made tidal observations that led him to the conclusion that the Northwest Passage lay north of the islands and not west as his instructions indicated

Interesting Facts:

• expedition was under the patronage of Henry, Prince of Wales for many years
• Hudson Bay was called "Button's Bay" after the man who first crossed it and explored its west coast

  View Voyage Route

Information taken from Arctic Canada, Volume I, Third Edition, 1982