Sir Martin Frobisher

 

 

Sir Martin Frobisher was a very successful privateer, one of the chief commanders of the Royal Navy and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. But all that glitters is not gold, and his life appears to have been dogged by setbacks and misfortune.

 

 

Like Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake, Sir Martin Frobisher was one of the great seafaring men of his day, and was recognized as such by Queen Elizabeth I, who commissioned many of his voyages and eventually knighted him. However, he never gained the prominence that Drake did, a fact that caused him much anguish. This was because his three major expeditions to find a north-west sea passage ended in failure. Moreover, his attempts to bring back gold ore to the queen also failed.

Frobisher spent a great deal of time and effort exporting tons of what he believed to be gold ore, only to find out that the ‘black rock’ he had carefully dug and transported from Canada was completely worthless. In addition, he did not find the north-west passage, although he did discover parts of Canada. For this reason, his name is not as well known as that of Raleigh and Drake today, despite the fact that he was actually a very successful privateer, capturing a number of treasure-laden ships, and that he also distinguished himself as one of the chief commanders of the Royal Navy, which defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588.

 

Treacherous passage

Martin Frobisher was born between 1535 and 1539 – the historical record is not accurate in this matter – in Wakefield, Yorkshire. He was the fourth son of Sir Bernard Frobisher, a Yorkshire merchant. When he was old enough to go to school, his father sent him to the home of his uncle, Sir John York, in London. Sir John was a well-known London merchant who traded overseas, so while staying in the house, young Martin was used to socializing with seafaring people. He soon began to show an interest in the maritime world, and in visiting foreign climes, so it was no surprise when, as a young man, he took up a career at sea.

Frobisher made his first voyage on a trade ship to Guinea. He then made several visits to parts of the African coast, before being commissioned, as an eminent Protestant mariner, to fight against the Spanish Catholics. But he had no intention of continuing his career as a fighting naval officer; he was more interested in exploring the world, and early on, conceived a plan to find a north-west Passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, along the northern coast of North America, through the treacherous waterways of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Opening up such a route to shipping would bring immense opportunities for trade, as goods could be exported to and from India and China (at that time called Cathay). However, it was not easy to find the money for such a venture, and for many years Frobisher was forced to fund-raise, finally finding enough support from city financiers to make his first voyage, in 1576.

 

‘Meta Incognita’

The voyage met with many setbacks. The weather was against the explorers, and when they reached Baffin Island, several of his men were taken captive by the local Inuits. Frobisher returned home, bearing with him a piece of black stone which he optimistically thought carried gold ore. Once in London, he managed to persuade the financiers to back another voyage, this time with three ships. He also received money from the queen, and the right to take possession of the lands that he found, which he duly did. (Today, Frobisher Bay is named after him.) This time, he came back with around 200 tons of the ore. Queen Elizabeth I was delighted with his claiming of new lands for the crown, which she named ‘Meta Incognita’, and rewarded him with a lavish reception, throwing a gold chain around his neck. Another voyage was planned, this time to continue the search for the north-west passage. However, the voyage was beset with bad luck, and the fleet of ships got lost, sailing down the Hudson River by mistake. More ore was extracted and shipped, and Frobisher’s party returned to England. When the ore was more carefully examined, it was found to be worthless, and ended up being used in road construction.

 

Quest for gold

But Frobisher’s career was far from over. In 1585, he became Sir Francis Drake’s right-hand man, commanding an expedition to the West Indies. He was then chosen by the lord high admiral to help lead the fight against the Spanish Armada, being, as the Admiral remarked, one of four men ‘of the greatest experience that this realm hath’. Along with Drake and others, he helped to repel the Spanish Armada, emerging from the fray triumphant. The queen knighted him, and from then on he had carte blanche to operate as a privateer, which he did with great gusto, making trips to the Azores and capturing a number of French and Spanish ships. During this time, he operated both independently and in the employ of the queen. In 1594, he was sent to Brest to aid the Huguenots, or French Calvinists, in their fight against the Catholics. At Crozon, he was wounded in the fighting, and was taken back to Plymouth, where he died several days later.

Sir Martin Frobisher’s career as an explorer was overshadowed by his failure to find the north-west passage. As an adventurer, he also met with failure, since his obsession with finding gold to bring back to the queen resulted in carting tons of worthless black rock over the ocean in the belief that it was precious ore. However, as a fighter, Frobisher was a great success, being knighted by the queen after helping to defeat the Spanish armada. In addition, his career as a privateer flourished, since he captured several valuable treasure ships, but like Sir Walter Raleigh, he was not content simply to make a living as a privateer, robbing enemy ships. He had set his sights higher, as an explorer and discoverer of a fabled ‘land of gold’, a quest that was to dominate his endeavours and prove, in the end, to be an impossible dream.