Christopher Middleton (navigator)
Christopher Middleton | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Unknown date, c. 1690 Newton Bewley, England |
| Died | 12 February 1770 (aged 79–80)[1] Norton, Durham, England |
| Occupation | Explorer, navigator |
| Employer | Hudson's Bay Company |
| Works | "The Effects of Cold" (1743) |
| Awards | |
| Military service | |
| Branch |  Royal Navy |
| Service years | 1741–1770 |
Christopher Middleton FRS (c. 1690 – 12 February 1770) was an English navigator with the Hudson's Bay Company and Royal Navy officer.[1] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 7 April 1737.
Career
Privateer in Queen Anne's War
Middleton described serving aboard a privateer in Queen Anne's War.[1] The war was fought between 1701 and 1713.
Hudson's Bay Company service
Middleton was appointed second mate of Hannah, in 1721, and appointed her captain in 1725.[1] He eventually made 16 annual voyages on ships supplying Hudson Bay Company outposts.
Middleton was a scientific sailor, and he methodically observed compass deviations, on his voyages.[1] Hudson's Bay was close to the location of the North Magnetic Pole. Middleton published a paper, describing his observations, in the Royal Society's Philosophical Transaction. Middleton's scientific endeavours earned him a Fellowship in the Royal Society.[1]
Royal Navy
On 5 March 1741, Middleton was appointed to the command of HMS Furnace, a Royal Navy bomb vessel which was refitted at Deptford Dockyard and rigged as a three-masted ship. In May, he left England on Furnace, accompanied by a smaller vessel, the purchased HMS Discovery, under the command of William Moor, and sailed to Hudson Bay in search of a Northwest Passage.[2]
He spent the winter at Fort Churchill, and then proceeded north, into Roes Welcome Sound and discovered Wager Inlet where he was iced in for three weeks. At the head of the sound he found himself blocked by ice, and named the place Repulse Bay.
Middleton returned to England in 1742, where he was presented with the Royal Society's Copley Medal, to whom he presented a paper entitled "The effects of cold; together with observations of the longitude, latitude, and declination of the magnetic needle, at Prince of Wales's fort, upon Churchill-River in Hudson's Bay, North America".[3]
Middleton was given command of HMS Shark, in May 1745, and commanded her until 1748, when peace was negotiated with Spain.[1] Royal Navy officers were entitled to half-pay, when not employed, and Middleton spent the rest of his life on half-pay. He went back to the Hudson's Bay Company, and requested a command, there, without success.
See also
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g Williams (1974), § 1.
- ^ Barr (1983), p. 98.
- ^ Middleton (1743), pp. 157–171.
References
- Barr, W. (March 1983). "Christopher Middleton (ca. 1690–1770)". Arctic. Arctic Profiles. 36 (1): 98–99. doi:10.14430/arctic2249.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Laughton, J. K. (1894). Middleton, Christopher. Vol. 37. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 342–343.
{{cite encyclopedia}}:|work=ignored (help); Invalid|ref=harv(help); Unknown parameter|titlelink=ignored (|title-link=suggested) (help) - Middleton, C. (December 1743). "The effects of cold". Philos. Trans. Royal Soc. 42 (465): 157–171. doi:10.1098/rstl.1742.0040.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Williams, G. (1974). Middleton, Christopher. Vol. 3. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
{{cite encyclopedia}}:|work=ignored (help); Invalid|ref=harv(help)
External links
- Use dmy dates from April 2012
- 17th-century English people
- 17th-century Royal Navy personnel
- 18th-century English people
- 18th-century Royal Navy personnel
- 1690s births
- 1770 deaths
- English explorers of North America
- English navigators
- English polar explorers
- Explorers of Canada
- Explorers of the Arctic
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Hudson's Bay Company people
- People from County Durham (before 1974)
- Recipients of the Copley Medal
- Royal Navy officers