In my series of articles on Martin Frobisher in my Substack Beyond Brant and Brock, I provide an overview of the life of Sir Martin Frobisher as it relates to the founding of Canada. To achieve that I had to be selective.
Frobisher’s achievements
Amongst the many achievements of Frobisher’s three voyages to the Arctic, the most long lasting was the discovery of the Inuit who lived and thrived in one of the most inhospitable climates on earth. Yet, English prejudices about native populations in the New World affected how Frobisher and his men related to the Inuit, although in time they learned to respect and even admire them.
From Frobisher’s POV, interest in a black stone randomly grabbed during a visit to an island in the Arctic led to the main goal of the voyages becoming derailed. Frobisher had to forget his main goal of finding the Northwest Passage and concentrate on a questionable mining expedition. He must have known that both goals were loosing propositions and that must have deeply affected his sense of self-importance. Although he didn’t know it at the time, The ore was valueless black rock. And in any case, the search for the Northwest passage would have ended in disaster, much like Henry Hudson’s later voyages.
So, for Frobisher, although he believed his Arctic voyages were a failure (especially as he compared himself to his contemporary and rival, the great Sir Francis Drake) he secured his place in history.
His exploits as a ruthless Admiral in time of war during the wars against Spain won him the title of Sir Martin Frobisher and admiration from Queen Elizabeth. He would die not in the high Arctic but on the battlefield in Brittany, France.
That his legacy has now been revisited by historians is a credit not to English nationalism but to an interest by Canadian and British (and to some extent Americans) historians wanting to learn how England became a major player in Canadian history and how Canada secured for itself the Arctic islands and Northwest Passage.
Additionally, a greater interest in the culture of Indigenous peoples before the arrival of Europeans led historians to rediscover Inuit traditions and their incredible talent at keeping their oral history factually accurate, a skill even the great educators of Europe have failed to accomplish.
Select bibliography of works on Martin Frobisher
Of the many writings on the life and activities of Martin Frobisher, the following are the resources I have found most useful. The list is far from comprehensive.
Primary sources
Christopher Hall, Master and second in command to Frobisher
Throughout his three journeys to the Arctic, Frobisher didn’t think to write a report of each journey, or perhaps he was unable to due to the demands of the voyages. He may have left it to one of his crew members as he was too busy trying to keep everyone alive as he navigated through very dangerous and unknown waters around Greenland, the Labrador Straight and into the Arctic. Thankfully, Master Christopher Hall on board the vessel Gabriel documented the first voyages.
For the writings of Christopher Hall, see the following:
- Jones, Rev. Frank. The Life of Martin Frobisher, Knight containing a narrative of the Spanish Armada. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1878. 360 pp. Available from AbeBooks.
Ambrose Dudley and Robert Dudley
Ambrose Dudley. Earl of Warwick (1530 - 1590) along with his brother Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (1532-1588) became the principle investors (patrons) of Frobisher’s 1576 search for the Northwest Passage.
The Earl of Warwick served under Queen Elizabeth I with several appointments including Master of the Ordinance. He was at one point part of the Privy Council. The Earl of Leicester is well known as a potential suitor of Queen Elizabeth.
However, it was the Earl of Warwick that contributed a report of the 1576 voyage as part of his role as investor. Robert, his brother was an investor of the Muscovy Company and the Merchant Adventurers and, therefore, knew Michael Lok, the main investor in Frobisher’s voyages. It may have been Lok who persuaded Ambrose and Robert Dudley to invest.
This may explain Queen Elisabeth’s keen interest in the voyages. It may also have been how Frobisher made the connection to the English Monarch.
George Best
Another key source of information is George Best. He was part of Frobisher’s second and third voyages. On the last voyage he captained the Anne Francis. After the voyages he wrote one of the best sources of information of the voyages. The report of the first voyage is second hand whereas that of the second and third voyage is first hand witness. His writings were included in Richard Hakluyt’s collection of early English explorations.
- Collinson, Richard ed. George Best 1578, The three voyages of Martin Frobisher, in search of a passage to Cathaia and India by the north-west, A.D. 1576–8 London: Hakluyt Society 1867.
Online sources
Canadian Encyclopedia: Sir Martin Frobisher.
EBSCO site at Martin Frobisher’s Voyages.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online: Sir Martin Frobisher: English explorer.
Books
Alsford, Stephen, 1952-; Symons, T. H. B. ed. (Thomas Henry Bull), 1929-; Kitzan, Chris, Meta Incognita, a Discourse of Discovery: Martin Frobisher’s Arctic Expeditions, 1576-1578. Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Civilization; Meta Incognita Project Steering Committee.
Fitzhugh, William W., and Jacqueline S. Olin, eds. Archeology of the Frobisher Voyages. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.
Hall, Charles Francis. Life with the Esquimaux. London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, Milton House, Ludgate Hill. 1865.
McDermott, James. Martin Frobisher: Elizabethan Privateer. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2001. 310 pp. Perhaps the finest and most details book on the life of Sir Martin Frobisher I have found is Martin Frobisher: Elizabethan Privateer. You would be hard pressed to find a better book about Frobisher’s life. This has been my primary source for my articles. Honestly, I never knew how much Frobisher had accomplished in his life. If you are looking for good reading on Frobisher, I cannot highly recommend this book more.
McGhee, Robert. The Arctic Voyages of Martin Frobisher: An Elizabethan Adventure. Ottawa: McGill-Queen’s University Press and Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2001.
Payne, Edward John. Voyages of the Elizabethan Seamen: Selected Narratives from the “Principal Navigations” of Hakluyt Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1907. See beginning p. 64 for George Best’s narratives of the three voyages.