Hearne, Samuel

Hearne, Samuel

▪ British explorer
born 1745, London, Eng.
died November 1792, England

      English seaman, fur trader, and explorer, the first European to make an overland trip to the Arctic Ocean. He was the first to show the trend of the Arctic shore.

      At the age of 11, Hearne became a midshipman in the British Royal Navy. From 1766 he worked for the British-based Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) as mate on company vessels, one of which took him in 1769 to Fort Prince of Wales at the mouth of the Churchill River in present Manitoba.

      Between the fort and the Arctic Ocean lay an immense region known only as the Barren Grounds, rumoured to be filled with riches, including copper. It was speculated that the mysterious tundra even offered a route to the Orient. Twice frustrated in attempts to explore the territory for the Hudson's Bay Company, Hearne left the Churchill River in December 1770, accompanied only by an Indian guide and the guide's eight wives. The following July he found the mouth of the river that he is said to have named the Coppermine (in present Northwest Territories). When he returned to the fort in June 1772, he had walked some 5,000 miles and explored more than 250,000 square miles.

      In 1774 Hearne built for the Hudson's Bay Company its first interior trading post, Cumberland House, on the Saskatchewan River, the first permanent settlement in present Saskatchewan. He was serving the Hudson's Bay Company as governor in 1782 when the French plundered and destroyed the post and took Hearne prisoner.

      To the credit of the French navy, Hearne was treated with dignity. The Count de La Perouse, himself an explorer, encouraged Hearne not only to preserve his papers but also to publish an account of his fabulous journey to the Arctic. Released by the French, Hearne spent four relatively uneventful years in Canada (1783–87) before he returned to England to write A Journey from Prince of Wales' Fort . . . to the Northern Ocean (published posthumously, 1795; new eds., 1911 and 1958).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hearne, Samuel — (1745 1792)    Came to Fort Prince of Wales on the Hudson s Bay Company s ship Prince Rupert. Under instructions from the Company, and after two abortive attempts, set forth in December, 1770, on his memorable journey to the mouth of the… …   The makers of Canada

  • Samuel Hearne — Samuel Hearne …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Samuel Hearne — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Samuel Hearne Samuel Hearne (* 1745 – noviembre de 1792), explorador inglés del norte de Norteamérica, nació en Londres. En 1756 entró en la Armada, y estuvo un tiempo con Lord Hood; al final de la Guerra de …   Wikipedia Español

  • Samuel Hearne — (1745, Londres Novembre 1792) était un explorateur du nord du Canada. Entré dans la Royal Navy à la fin de la guerre de Sept Ans, il travailla pour la Compagnie de la Baie d Hudson où il a été employé à …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Samuel Hearne — (1745 ndash; November 1792), was born in London, England and did extensive exploration of northern North America.In 1756, he entered the navy, and was some time with Lord Hood; at the end of the Seven Years War (1763), he took service with the H …   Wikipedia

  • Hearne (Begriffsklärung) — Hearne steht für: Hearne, Stadt in Texas, Vereinigte Staaten Hearne ist der Familienname folgender Personen: John Edgar Colwell Hearne (1926–1994), in Jamaika geborener kanadischer Schriftsteller John J. Hearne (1893–1969), irischer Diplomat und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hearne — (spr. Hahrn), 1) Thom., geb. 1678 zu White Waltham in Berkshire, wurde Bibliothekar in Oxford, aber politischer Meinungen halber entsetzt u. st. 1735. Er gab heraus den Plinius (1703), Iustin (1705), Livius (1708) u. Scriptores varii de historia… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Hearne — (Hahrn), Samuel, geb. 1745, zuerst Matrose, bereiste im Dienste der Hudsonsbaigesellschaft zuerst das Innere der nordamerikan. Polarländer; seine Reisebeschreibung ist interessant sowohl wegen der Kenntniß des Landes als wegen der über die… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Horace Hearne — Sir Hector Horace Hearne (23 February 1892 ndash;31 December 1962) was a Judge.Hearne was born in 1892, the son of Samuel Hearne and Edith (nee Butterfield). He joined the Colonial Service as an Assistant District Commissioner, in Uganda in… …   Wikipedia

  • Mary Hearne — (? fl. 1718) is the name of a novelist published by Edmund Curll. It is possible, even likely, that the name does not accurately represent the author, as Curll frequently required hack writers to submit works and gave them assumed names.… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”