James Hall (explorer)
James Hall ( † 22 or July 23, 1612 in Amerdloqfjord on the west coast of Greenland, also Jacob Hald ) was an English navigator and explorer.
Life
Hall was born in Kingston upon Hull, then a major port on the east coast of England. The first report of him dates back to 1605, when he participated as a helmsman on the Danish expedition led by John Cunningham, which should clarify the fate of the Norse settlers in Greenland ( Grænlendingar ) (see Greenland expeditions under Christian IV ). The fact that he was selected as helmsman and thus was responsible for the navigation, suggests that he knew the waters around Greenland well from previous expeditions. Maybe he had already participated in the Arctic expedition under John Davis in 1585.
On the expedition, although no evidence was found on the whereabouts of the settlers, but brought silver -containing rock. Then he spoke of the Danish king to an annual salary of 500 rix-dollars ( Rigsdaler ). In two other expeditions to Greenland in the years 1606 and 1607, the hope was not fulfilled on extensive silver deposits. Hall, who wrote the official travel reports for the first two expeditions, was dismissed from the civil service and had to return to England.
1612 Hall appeared again in appearance. He was four London merchants, including Sir Thomas Smythe (1558-1625) and James Lancaster, convince them to finance another expedition to Greenland. On April 10, Hall stabbed the two ships Patience and Heart's Ease of Kingston upon Hull in from the lake. In the rounding of Cape Farewell, he noted that the ice conditions were much more favorable this year. He went on 27 May at 64 ° N near the present-day Nuuk on land. On July 15, he anchored at Itilleq, and then continued its course further north. He tried to recover the point where he was in 1605 met with silver, which he was not able. On 21 or 22 July, he met in Amerdloqfjord to a group Inuit. Since, under the command of Cunningham four Inuit were abducted during the first expedition in 1605, the Inuit took revenge and stabbed Hall the following day with a spear.
The leadership of the expedition was then appointed Andrew Barker, captain of the Heart's Ease. After the further search for silver deposits was unsuccessful, this ordered on August 4, the return trip. In mid-September, both ships arrived in England. At the expedition William Baffin participated as a helmsman who was to advance as a navigator Robert Bylots further north in 1616.
Swell
- CCA Gosch: Danish Arctic Expeditions, 1605-1620, Volume 1, The Hakluyt Society, London 1847
- William James Mills: Exploring Polar Frontiers - A Historical Encyclopedia. Volume 1, ABC -CLIO, 2003, ISBN 1-57607-422-6, pp. 286 f ( limited preview on Google Book Search ).
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Entry in the Dictionary of National Biography