William Baffin | |
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| Born | c. 1584 London, England |
| Died | 23 January 1622 |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation(s) | Navigator, explorer, cartographer |
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William Baffin (c. 1584 – 23 January 1622) was an English navigator, explorer and cartographer. He is best known for his attempt to find theNorthwest Passage from theAtlantic toPacific oceans, during which Baffin became the first European to discovera bay which was subsequently named in his honour. Baffin carried out numerous surveys of theRed Sea andPersian Gulf for the EnglishEast India Company.
Nothing is known about Baffin's early life[1] (an estimated year of birth, 1584, originated in theEncyclopædia Britannica in the 19th century, but without known documentary support).[2] It has been conjectured that he was born to a humble station in London and gradually raised himself through his diligence and perseverance.[2][3] In printing his journals,Samuel Purchas wrote of him as a "learned-unlearned Mariner and Mathematician... wanting art of words" who "really employed himself to those industries, whereof here you see so evident fruits."[4]
His earliest mention occurs in 1612, when he was chief pilot on CaptainJames Hall's 4th expedition to Greenland.[5]Hall's three earlier explorations had been underwritten byChristian IV, theking ofDenmark-Norway anxious to reestablish contact with theNorse settlements there. It was still unknown that they had been overrun by theInuit centuries before, but after the third failed expedition, Christian abandoned the project. Hall then successfully interested fourEnglish merchants—Thomas Smythe,James Lancaster,William Cockayne, and Richard Ball—in permitting him to continue his work. Baffin and Hall sailed from theHumber aboardPatience on 22 April,[a] accompanied byHeart's Ease.[6][2] During this voyage, Captain Hall was killed by the Inuit on the west coast of Greenland but Baffin successfully returned toHull on 11 September under the new captain Andrew Barker.[2]
Over the next two years, Baffin served in theMuscovy Company-controlledwhale-fishery offSpitzbergen.[3] During the 1613 season, he served under Captain Benjamin Joseph as pilot ofTiger, theflagship of the 7-vessel whaling fleet;[2] in 1614, he and Joseph served onThomasine, amid a fleet of 11 ships and 2pinnaces.[2] Icy conditions precluded exploration to the north, but Baffin examined a "considerable portion" of Spitzbergen's coast, returning to London on 4 October.[2]
In 1615, he entered the service of the "Company of Merchants of London, Discoverers of the North-West Passage", which had been established in 1612. Its first governor wasThomas Smythe,[7] one of the underwriters of Hall's fourth voyage.[b][c] Baffin served as pilot ofDiscovery, which left England under CaptainRobert Bylot on 15 March.[2] It carefully exploredHudson Strait in search of aNorthwest Passage from the North Atlantic to theFar East. The accuracy of Baffin's tidal and astronomical observations on this voyage was confirmed whenWilliam Edward Parry passed over the same ground in 1821.[3][2]
Baffin again sailed as pilot ofDiscovery the next year. LeavingGravesend on 26 March,[2] he passed west of Greenland up theDavis Strait, discovering the large bay to its north whichnow bears his name, together with a series of sounds which radiate from its head and were named by him after members of the North-West Passage Company:Lancaster,Smith, andJones.[3] On this voyage, he sailed over 300 statute miles (480 km) farther north than his predecessorJohn Davis:[3] since his voyages seemed to preclude hope of an ice-free nautical path to the Orient, the area was not explored again for two centuries[3] and hisfurthest north (about77° 45′ N) remained unsurpassed in North America until the Royal Navy officerEdward Augustus Inglefield reached78° 28′ N in the same area in 1852.
With the abandonment of projects for the Northwest Passage, Baffin took service with theEast India Company,[3] possibly with the intent of eventually discovering the passage from the western end.[2] He left as master's mate toAndrew Shilling, captain ofAnne Royal, on 4 February 1617.[2] The fleet – under the command of CaptainMartin Pring – reachedSaldanha Bay in South Africa on 21 June andSurat inBritish India in September. Baffin's ship then performed separate service on runs toMocha inYemen and other ports of theRed Sea andPersian Gulf. Upon his return to London in September, 1619,[2] the company granted him special recognition for the valuable charts he had made during the course of his voyage.[3]
In 1620, he sailed east again as master ofLondon on the special recommendation of Capt. Shilling, the commander of the expedition.[8][2] Baffin leftthe Downs on 25 March and reachedSuvali Beach nearSurat in India on 9 November. Hearing of a jointPortuguese andDutch fleet searching for them, Shilling went in search of them: he was wounded in battle in the Gulf of Oman on 28 December and died on 6 January.[2] A year later, the East India Company agreed to join thePersian assaults on the Portuguese fortresses on the islands ofQeshm andHormuz in exchange for certain trade concessions. At Qeshm offBandar Abbas, he was sent ashore on 23 January 1622 to take measurements of the height and distance of the walls of Fort Queixome to assist the fleet's gunners. One of his contemporaries described his death:
Master Baffin went on shoare with his Geometricall Instruments, for the taking of the height and distance of the Castle wall, for the better levelling of his peece to make his shot; but, as he was about the same, he received a small shot from the Castle into his belly, wherewith he gave three leapes, and died immediately.[9]
He was one of few English casualties. The garrison swiftly surrendered,[10] and Anglo-Persian control of Qeshm permitted the swiftconquest of Ormuz, openingPersia to direct trade.[11]
His wife – reckoned a "troublesome, impatient woman"[12] – forced the East India Company into court over her husband's wages and other claims. Three years later, a settlement of£500 was agreed upon.[2]
Baffin Bay andBaffin Island were named in William Baffin's honour,[13] and he is responsible for the names of several of their features.[3] His journals were the only account of several of his voyages.[5] Excerpts were printed bySamuel Purchas in 1625, but Baffin's charts and hydrographic observations were omitted owing to the expense involved.[citation needed] All but one were subsequently lost,[2] and in time Baffin's discoveries came to be doubted.[3] He was, however, a hero to the explorerJohn Ross, who led an expedition in 1818 that confirmed Baffin's account in almost all particulars.[14]
Besides his geographical discoveries, Baffin is celebrated for the scrupulous accuracy of his many scientific and magnetic observations.[3] Hisreckoning of longitude at sea bylunar distances on 26 April 1615 is the first of its kind on record.[3][2]
He is also the namesake of the William Baffin rose.[15]
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