Sir Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson
This speculative portrait from Cyclopedia of Universal History is one of several used to represent Henry Hudson.
Born	c. 1565–1570 Kingdom of England
Died	1611 (presumed)
Occupation	Explorer, navigator, author

Henry Hudson (c. 1565–1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States.

In 1607 and 1608, Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a rumored Northeast Passage to Cathay (present-day China) via a route above the Arctic Circle. In 1609 he landed in North America and explored the region around the modern New York metropolitan area, looking for a Northwest Passage to Asia on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. He sailed up the Hudson River, which was later named for him, and thereby laid the foundation for Dutch colonization of the region.

Hudson discovered the Hudson Strait and the immense Hudson Bay on his final expedition, while still searching for the Northwest Passage. In 1611, after wintering on the shore of James Bay, Hudson wanted to press on to the west, but most of his crew mutinied. The mutineers cast Hudson, his son, and seven others adrift; the Hudsons and their companions were never seen again.

Besides being the namesake of numerous geographical features, Hudson is also the namesake of the Hudson's Bay Company that explored and traded in the vast Hudson Bay watershed in the following centuries.

Details of Hudson's birth and early life are mostly unknown. Some sources have identified Henry Hudson as having been born in about 1565, but others date his birth to around 1570. Other historians assert even less certainty; Peter C. Mancall, for instance, states that "[Hudson] was probably born in the 1560s," while Piers Pennington gives no date at all. Hudson is thought to have spent many years at sea, beginning as a cabin boy and gradually working his way up to ship's captain.