Cyprian Southack was an American cartographer and naval military. He is remembered for being a commander of the Province Galley, Massachusetts' one-ship navy (1696–1711) and commanded the first navy ship of Nova Scotia, the ship William Augustus (1721–23).
Background
He was born on March 25, 1662 in London, England, United Kingdom, the son of Cyprian and Elizabeth Southack, of Stepney, Middlesex. The father was a naval lieutenant in the service of Charles II, and the son, at the age of ten, fought in the engagement at Southwold Bay.
Career
In 1685 Southack came to Boston, Massachussets, where he resided for many years. Holding a commission from the Admiralty Board, he guarded the New England coast from the ravages of pirates and privateers.
He was a member of Sir William Phips's unsuccessful expedition to Nova Scotia in the summer of 1690. By his heroic work on the night of September 16 of that year the South Meeting House in Boston was saved when five neighboring buildings burned. In 1698 he commanded the Province Galley when it conveyed Major James Converse and Colonel John Phillips from Boston to effect peace with the Indians at Casco Bay, and in 1704 he commanded the galley in an expedition under Colonel Benjamin Church against the French and Indians in Maine and Nova Scotia.
Sailing in August 1711 to carry supplies to Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker's ill-fated St. Lawrence River expedition, he met the returning transports and sailed back to Boston.
In 1717 Governor Samuel Shute sent him out to take charge of a wrecked pirate fleet at Eastham on Cape Cod. On February 18, 1718, he with several others was commissioned to inspect the plan of a lighthouse at the entrance to Boston harbor, to consider the proposal of a second light, and to report their findings to the governor and council; and in that same year he was one of the commissioners sent to adjust the boundaries of Nova Scotia.
In 1720 he was selected by Governor Phillips to be a member of the Council in Nova Scotia. He served as a warden and vestryman of King's Chapel, Boston. Apparently using only the log and compass, Southack made several charts during his numerous cruises along the northeast coast of North America.
His New England Coasting Pilot, which appeared about 1720, was revised in 1734 and again about 1775.
In 1720 The Harbour of Casco Bay and Islands Adjacent and Map of Canso Harbour were published; in 1746, A New Chart of the British Empire in North America, and at an unestablished date a Map of the Sea Coast of New England.
He seems to have remained active in King’s Chapel (Boston) as late as 1739, when he last served as an officer of the church, ending a period of service which began about 1702.
Southack died in Boston and was buried in the Granary Burying Ground.
Achievements
Works
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Connections
He had a wife, Elizabeth, by whom he had several children.