Martin Frobisher - 1576, 1577, 1578

Martin Frobisher

Accomplishments:

• on his first voyage in search of the Northwest Passage Frobisher landed near Resolution Island, giving this land the name "Queen Elizabeth's Forelande"
• he then landed at "North Forelande", the eastern tip of Hall Island, and claimed the land in the name of the Queen
• from there he set sail along the waterway which he believed was the route to the Orient and to which he gave the name "Frobisher's Streights"
• although Frobisher did not reach the Orient on this voyage, he did pick up some "ore" which reportedly contained gold
• Frobisher's second voyage, then, was concerned mainly with gathering more "ore" rather than searching for the Northwest Passage
• Frobisher once again landed on Hall Island but found no "ore", although upon exploration of nearby islands and the shores of "Frobisher's Streights" he did find 200-tons of "treasure" to bring back to England
• Queen Elizabeth gave the name "Meta Incognita" to the new land
• Frobisher's final voyage was concerned with mining and the colonization of "Meta Incognita"
• however, Frobisher missed the entrance to "Frobisher's Streights" on this voyage and instead sailed a considerable distance up Hudson Strait, which he named "Mistaken Strait"
• realizing their mistake the boats then headed back, on the way establishing the insularity of the "Forelande", and landed on Countess of Warwick Island (the present Kidlunarn Island) and began mining operations
• due to the loss of the boat carrying most of the materials required for mining at the beginning of the voyage, the plans for colonization were abandoned in hopes of returning the next year

Interesting Facts:

• the crafts for Frobisher's first voyage consisted of the Gabriel of 20 tons, the Michael of 25 tons and a tiny pinnace
• by his third voyage, Frobisher had acquired a fleet of fifteen vessels
• the "ore" which Frobisher had discovered was found to be worthless and he narrowly escaped being sent to prison
• "Frobisher's Streights" turned out to be a 150 mile inlet, discovered by Charles Francis Hall in 1861

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