Sir Martin Frobisher

Frobisher was an English mariner and explorer who is best known for his efforts to discover a Northwest Passage and his voyages to Labrador and Frobisher Bay in Canada.

Following the death of his mother, Martin lived with his uncle Sir John York in London where he developed interests for exploration. He started his career by exploring Africa's northwest coast, particularly Guinea, in 1553 and 1554. Allegedly, he even volunteered as a hostage to improve trade negotiations with their king.

Like many of his contemporaries, Frobisher was fascinated by the idea of finding a northwestern route to the Far East by sea. In partnership with Michael Lok of the Muscovy Company, he led the first expedition in 1576 and ran into what is now Resolution Island, near Labrador. He became the first European to navigate the waterway now known as Frobisher Bay and returned to England with ore thought to contain gold. Encouraged by the discovery of that mineral the investors provided capital for the second expedition launched in 1577. Frobisher was appointed high admiral of the fleet with the primary goal to bring the golden ore. He returned to Europe with about 200 tonnes of minerals which they thought was gold. Queen Elizabeth, attracted by the idea of gold deposits commissioned a larger expedition to “Meta Incognita” in 1578. Frobisher was appointed the leader of 15 ships with a mission to establish a colony of Baffin Island. But, attempts to establish a settlement failed and the ore that Frobisher brought back to England, weighing about 1,350 tonnes contained no precious metals at all.

Since his career of an explorer was consequently ruined, Frobisher became active in the military field. In 1585 he sailed to the West Indies as a vice admiral in Sir Francis Drake’s service. Three years later he became a chief commander in the English defense against the Spanish Armada. For his merits he was knighted.

The rest of his life, Frobisher spent harassing Spanish vessels and died of wounds inflicted during a siege in 1594.