Christopher Middleton - 1741-1742

Accomplishments:

• Middleton had been sent out in search of a Northwest Passage in order to ease the minds of merchants who accused the Hudson's Bay Company of trying to avoid the discovery of a passage which might lead to the loss of their exclusive rights in the North
• Middleton's expedition sailed northward through Roes Welcome Sound to Frozen Strait where it was stopped by ice
• on this trip Middleton noted the entrances to Wager and Repulse Bays but believed they were only inlets and not straits leading to the northwest
• turning back, he skirted the west and south coasts of Southampton Island and the south coast of Coats Island

Interesting Facts:

• a bitter public controversy developed concerning the findings of the voyage, Middleton being charged with suppressing knowledge in order to cover the Hudson's Bay Company, from whom he was accused of accepting bribes

View Voyage Route

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