Frobisher, Sir Martin (frō`bĭshər), 1535?–1594, English mariner. He went to sea as a boy, and spent much of his youth in the African trade. He later gained the friendship of Sir Humphrey Gilbert Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 1537?–1583, English soldier, navigator, and explorer; half brother of Sir Walter Raleigh . Knighted (1570) for his service in the campaigns in Ireland, he later (1572) served in the Netherlands.
..... Click the link for more information. , through whom he became interested in the Northwest Passage Northwest Passage, water routes through the Arctic Archipelago, N Canada, and along the northern coast of Alaska between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Even though the explorers of the 16th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. . Licensed by Queen Elizabeth I and backed by a group of merchant adventurers, Frobisher made three voyages (1576, 1577, and 1578) to the Arctic Arctic, the northernmost area of the earth, centered on the North Pole . The arctic regions are not coextensive with the area enclosed by the Arctic Circle (lat.
..... Click the link for more information. in search of the passage. On his first voyage he sailed into Frobisher Bay to S Baffin Island, and from its shores brought back some black ore thought to contain gold and an Eskimo to prove his belief that he had actually reached fabled Cathay. Returning to Baffin Island on his next two journeys, he explored Frobisher Bay to its head and penetrated a short distance up Hudson Strait. Since his geographical discovery was slight and no gold was revealed in his cargoes of ore, Frobisher's name was discredited for a time. In 1585, however, he won glory as commander of a ship in Sir Francis Drake Drake, Sir Francis, 1540?–1596, English navigator and admiral, first Englishman to circumnavigate the world (1577–80).

Early Career

He was born in Devonshire, the son of a yeoman, and was at an early age apprenticed to a ship captain.
..... Click the link for more information. 's expedition to the West Indies and was knighted for his services with Drake and Sir John Hawkins Hawkins or Hawkyns, Sir John, 1532–95, English admiral. In 1562–63 and in 1564–65 he led extremely profitable expeditions that captured slaves on the W African coast, shipped them across
..... Click the link for more information. in the defeat of the Spanish Armada (see Armada, Spanish Armada, Spanish (ärmä`də)
..... Click the link for more information. ) in 1588. He died as the result of wounds received at Brest during an English campaign against the Spanish. The narratives of his voyages, first published in 1578, have passed through several editions. The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher by George Best was edited from the original 1578 text by Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1937).

Bibliography

See biography by J. McDermott (2001); study by R. Ruby (2001).

Frobisher, Sir Martin

(born c. 1535, Yorkshire, Eng.—died Nov. 22, 1594, Plymouth, Devon) English navigator and early explorer of Canada's northeastern coast. Searching for the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, he crossed the Atlantic in 1576 and reached Labrador and Baffin Island, discovering Frobisher Bay. Returning to England with reports of possible gold mines, he obtained royal backing for further expeditions in 1577 and 1578; when he brought back nothing of value, his backing collapsed. In 1585 he sailed as vice admiral of Sir Francis Drake's expedition to the West Indies, and in 1588 he played a prominent part in the campaign against the Spanish Armada.