Christopher Borough

Christopher Borough was an English merchant, mariner and official of the Muscovy Company. He is most remembered for his part in the sixth Muscovy Company trading venture with an aim to establish trade with Persia.

Christopher acted as Russian interpreter for the sixth Muscovy Company trading venture which left Gravesend on 19 June 1579. The fleet arrived at St Nicholas, near the present port of Archangel, on 22 July and transferred to small craft for the journey up the northern Dvina and Sukhona rivers to Vologda. The journey proceeded overland to reach Volga at Yaroslavl, where they again took ship. After a month, on 16 October, they reached Astrakhan, at the head of the delta, where they wintered. On 1 May 1580 Borough and his party embarked on an English-built vessel and headed into the Caspian Sea for the voyage south, making for Derbent, the chief emporium of that region. Due to strong winds they stopped briefly near Baku before returning to Derbent, where they traded from 22 June to 3 October.

Borough and his party returned to Astrakhan on 4 December. In April 1581 they left Astrakhan and reached St Nicholas on 16 July 1581. The merchandise was embarked on the William and John, which arrived in the Thames on 25 September 1581.

Borough remained in Russia when his party left, and he continued to visit the company's houses between St Nicholas and Astrakhan. Little else in known of his life. The last that is known of him is a lengthy report written in 1587 to the Muscovy Company regarding their affairs, and particularly exposing the devious policy of Sir Jerome Horsey in Moscow, who was busy making his private fortune at the company's expense.