Luke Foxe and Thomas James - 1631-1632

Thomas James

Accomplishments:

• leading rival merchants in London both sent out expeditions to the Hudson Bay area in 1631 to search for the Northwest Passage
• James sailed past the mouth of the Nelson River and made the first recorded discovery of the shorelines as far as the Winisk River
• he also explored the islands of James Bay and spent the winter on the mainland near Charlton Island
• Foxe, following the shores of Coats and Southampton Islands, reached Cape Fullerton and named an offshore island Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome after a friend and sponsor
• the name, shortened to Roes Welcome, is now given to the channel separating Southampton Island from the mainland
• Foxe sailed southwards to Cape Henrietta Maria, and turning north, sighted and named the Sleeper Islands and reached Southampton Island near Seahorse Point
• he then continued northeast to enter Foxe Channel and eventually reached his most northerly point just beyond Cape Dorchester on Baffin Island

Interesting Facts:

• Foxe was the first to circumnavigate Hudson Bay, the first to investigate the eastern waters of Foxe Channel and the first to return home without the loss of a single man
• he also completed his voyage in a single season and added much to the knowledge of the region
• however, it was James, the less experienced and less able seaman, who received much of the recognition of his day, perhaps due to his better written account of his experiences in the north

  View Voyage Route

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

Image courtesy of T&H Rodd/NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF CANADA/C-9529