Background
George Vancouver was born on June 22, 1757 in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, Great Britain.
(Four of the greatest maritime exploring expeditions were ...)
Four of the greatest maritime exploring expeditions were crammed into two decades late in the 18th century - Cook's third voyage, the French expedition commanded by La Perouse, the Malaspina expedition sent out by Spain, and George Vancouver's Voyage of Discovery. All four visited the northwest coast of North America, but weather and circumstances prevented Cook from making more than what Beaglehole calls ' a magnificent, an epoch-making reconnaissance'; La Perouse only touched the coast in a significant way at Yakutat Bay and Lituya Bay, and Malasina's memorable visits were to Yakutat Bay and Nootka Sound. Vancouver, by contrast, surveyed the enormous extent of coast from Lower California to Cook Inlet, and his meticulous survey literally set out on the map of the world the intricacies of Puget Sound and the western coast of mainland Canada. It was an achievement that places him with his mentor, Cook, in the first rank of marine surveyors. As a midshipman Vancouver had been with Cook when he discovered the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands in 1778. They attracted his interest, and the attention he devoted to the islands, their inhabitants and their political future when he twice later wintered there will surprise many. This is the first annotated edition of Vancouver's journal as he revised it for publication in 1798. The original manuscript has disappeared, but fortunately no fewer than 25 partial or complete logs or journals by other members of the expedition have survived. These supplement Vancouver's narrative at many points. It has been possible to identify virtually all the host of islands, channels and inlets that Vancouver encountered, and the provenance of most of the approximately 400 place names he bestowed, nine out of ten of which are still in use, is indicated. Volume I contains Book 1 of this new and annotated edition of A Voyage of Discovery ...(London, 1798). The voyage to Australia and Tahiti. Volume II continue with book 2 and part of book 3 of the new edition, and contains the voyage to Hawaii and the North American coast. The third volume in the set includes the remainder of Book 3, all Book 4, part of Book 5, covering the Pacific coast of North America and return to Hawaii. The final volume contains the remainder of book 5 of A Voyage of Discovery. It covers the coast of North America. Appendices include documents relating to the voyage and a list of the ships' company. The main pagination of all four volumes is continuous. The volumes are nos 163 - 166 in the Hakluyt Society Second Series, originally published in 1984.
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George Vancouver was born on June 22, 1757 in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, Great Britain.
George Vancouver, at the age of 13, began his naval career as an able seaman under Capt. James Cook on the Resolution.
He was a midshipman on Cook's famous third voyage in the Discovery (1771, 1772-1775, 1776-1779).
George Vancouver's first assignment was to take over the Nootka Sound territory from the Spanish after an incident there had threatened war between England and Spain.
After making new exploration around Australia and New Zealand and passing by Tahiti and Hawaii, Vancouver remained in the North Pacific, carrying out extensive exploratory trips from San Francisco northward, largely devoted to ascertaining the possibility of the elusive Northwest Passage.
He neither sought nor received the affection of his men, but he was respected.
His meticulous observations and stern logic largely substantiated the claims of Cook and blasted the hopes for a passage through North America anywhere to the south of Arctic waters. Vancouver returned to England in 1795 by way of Cape Horn and began the preparation of his journals.
On Vancouver's career at sea, the obvious source is his own account, A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Coast, which was published in three volumes in 1798.
The best account of his life is by George Godwin, Vancouver: A Life, 1757-1798 (1931).
Two recent studies are also good: Bern Anderson, Surveyor of the Sea: The Life and Voyages of Captain George Vancouver (1960), and James Stirrat and Carrie Marshall, Vancouver's Voyage (1967), first published under the title Adventurers in Two Hemispheres, Including Captain Vancouver's Voyage (1955).
George Vancouver's most famous undertaking was his exploration of the North Pacific coast of North America.
(Four of the greatest maritime exploring expeditions were ...)
