Hugh Willoughby
Sir Hugh Willoughby of Risley, Derbyshire[1] (died 1554) was an early English Arctic voyager. He was sent out on 10 May 1553, as captain of the Bona Esperanza with two other vessels under his command and with chief pilot Richard Chancellor, by a company of London merchants known as the Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands, which later became the Muscovy Company.
The vessels were separated by "terrible whirlwinds" in the Norwegian Sea. On 14 September 1553 Willoughby sailed into a bay near the present border between Finland and Russia. The ships with the frozen crews, including Captain Willoughby and his journal, were found by Russian fishermen a year later. It has also been suggested that Sir Hugh Willoughby and his crew were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, following their decision to insulate their ship from the bitter Arctic cold[2].
Richard Chancellor was able to drop anchor in the White Sea and trudge his way overland to Moscow and Ivan the Terrible's Court, opening trade with Russia.
During the voyage, Willoughby thought he saw islands to the north. Based on his description, these were subsequently depicted on maps as Willoughby's Land and Macsinof or Matsyn Island.[3]
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[edit] References
- ^ Pigot's Commercial Directory of Derbyshire, 1828/9, accessed 5 May 2008
- ^ Gordon, Eleanora C. The Fate of Sir Hugh Willoughby and His Companions: A New Conjecture // The Geographical Journal, Vol. 152, No. 2 (Jul., 1986), pp. 243-247
- ^ Hacquebord, Louwrens (Sept 1995). "In Search of Het Behouden Huys: A Survey of the Remains of the House of Willem Barentsz on Novaya Zemlya". Arctic 48 (3): 250. http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic48-3-248.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
[edit] External links
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
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