Christopher Middleton's expedition, 1741–42
| Dates | Explorer | Ships | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1741–42 | Christopher Middleton | Discovery,
Furnace |
• Search for the passage brought under the control of government
• Discovery of Wager Bay • A bitter dispute between Middleton and the expedition’s champion, Arthur Dobbs |
Arthur Dobbs
The loss of the Knight expedition reinforced the conviction at the Hudson Bay Company that there was little to gain in searching for the North-West Passage. Accordingly they rebuffed an approach from Irish MP Arthur Dobbs. But Dobbs was not a man who liked to take no for an answer. Reports vary as to his motivations for finding the Passage but it appears to be a combination of fervent nationalism (emboldened by the worry that France or Russia would find the Passage first) and fierce objections to the monopoly on trading enjoyed by the Hudson Bay Company.
Using his influence in London Dobbs argued that the search for the passage should be brought under government control, convincing Parliament that finding it was in the nation's interest. He feared that the Hudson Bay Company's inaction would damage England during a time of growing geopolitical competition.
Dobbs secretly approached one of Hudson Bay Company’s most experience captains, Christopher Middleton, who had already established his reputation as a navigator. His work on the variations of magnetic needles in Hudson Bay had led, in part, to him being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (no small feat for a ship’s captain of only two years’ standing). Dobbs arranged for Middleton to receive a naval commission and he left the company to command the Discovery and the Furnace.
The expedition
The ships departed from Port Churchill in late June 1742 and headed north. They discovered and entered what is now known as Wager Bay (missed by previous exhibitions). They were kept there for several weeks by drifting ice and took the time to explore the area in a series of boat journeys. Middleton concluded that his new discovery was indeed a closed bay and did not lead to the North-West Passage.
When the expedition left Wager Bay it headed north into Roes Welcome Sound. Ice made a journey into the Foxe Basin impossible and an investigation of Repulse Bay (aptly named by Middleton) left the captain satisfied that there was no route to the Pacific by heading west. He set sail for England.
Bitter dispute
Dobbs refused to accept this analysis claiming Middleton had found a route west via Wager
Bay but had been bribed to falsify his records by the Hudson’s Bay Company, who wanted to keep extra shipping away from their operations. This put in motion a long and bitter dispute between the two parties who published eight books and pamphlets between them, publicly repudiating one another – a dispute that effectively wrecked the career of one of England’s most skilled explorers and navigators.
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