Nathaniel Portlock

Nathaniel Portlock
Nathaniel Portlock
Born	c. 1749
Died	12 September 1817 Greenwich
Buried at	Greenwich
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Captain

Nathaniel Portlock (c. 1748 – 12 September 1817) was a British ship’s captain, maritime fur trader, and author.

He entered the Royal Navy in 1772 as an able seaman, serving in HMS St Albans. In 1776 he joined HMS Discovery as master’s mate and served on the third Pacific voyage of James Cook. During the expedition, in August 1779, he was transferred to the HMS Resolution.

He passed his lieutenant’s examination on 7 September 1780, then served on HMS Firebrand in the Channel fleet.

On Cook's third voyage, furs obtained in present-day British Columbia and Alaska sold for good prices when the expedition called at Macao. In 1785 Richard Cadman Etches and partners, including Portlock and George Dixon formed a partnership, commonly called the King George's Sound Company, to develop the fur trade. Dixon had also served on Resolution in the Pacific Ocean under Cook. In September 1785 Portlock and Dixon sailed from England. Portlock was in command of the larger vessel, the 320-ton (bm) King George, with a crew of 59. Dixon's was in command of the 200-ton (bm) Queen Charlotte, with a crew of 33. Dixon and Portlock sailed together for most of their three-year voyage. They crossed the Atlantic Ocean, reaching the Falkland Islands in January 1786, and transited Cape Horn to enter the Pacific Ocean. They reached the Hawaiian islands on 24 May and anchored in Kealakekua Bay (where Cook had been killed in 1779), but did not go ashore. They took on fresh food at other Hawaiian islands and proceeded on to what is now Alaska. After two years of plying the waters, Portlock and Dixon departed North America, reaching Macao in November 1788.