William Moor's expedition, 1746–47
| Dates | Explorer | Ships | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1746–47 | William Moor | Dobbs Galley,
California |
• Discovery of Chesterfield Inlet
• Confirmation that North-West Passage did not lie through Wager Bay |
While still engaged in a very public war of words with Middleton, Dobbs was preparing another expedition to be commanded by William Moor aboard the Dobbs Galley accompanied by Francis Smith, in charge of the California. Despite being initially sceptical of Dobbs's assertion that the passage would be found in Wager Bay, Moor was perhaps encouraged to take the journey by a £20,000 reward for finding the Passage offered by an act of parliament the previous year.
A bad winter
It took a month for the expedition to traverse the ice of the Hudson Strait. The ships explored only for a few days (visiting Marble Island where some remnants of Knight’s expedition, but no bodies, were found) before electing to winter north of York Factory (a post of the Hudson Bay Company) at Ten Shilling Creek. The winter was not a happy one. Moor and Smith were constantly in dispute and seven of the crew died of scurvy (the outbreak of which was hastened by the liberal consumption of alcohol which Moor permitted amongst his men).
Chesterfield Inlet and Wager Bay
When the expedition set sail again they were rewarded with the discovery of Chesterfield Inlet, although they did not enter it. On 29 July the expedition was swept into Wager Bay by a powerful tidal flow, spinning the California around and crashing huge pieces of ice into her hull. The bay was navigated for 150 miles but Middleton’s previous conclusion that it was no part of the North-West Passage was borne out. The bay ended in two small, unnavigable rivers. The ships limped back to England affected by extreme poor health and the ever-present threat of mutiny, reaching the Thames in October.
Outcomes
Unsurprisingly Dobbs was not happy with the result of the endeavour and accused Moor and Smith of ‘timidity, ill conduct and bad inclinations’. Whilst this may not have been entirely unjustified it made no difference to the material fact that the North-West Passage would not be found in Wager Bay as Dobbs had believed.