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The English privateer, pirate, royal servant and courageous captain Martin Frobisher, is indeed a complicated character to unravel. How he lurched from the position of blatant criminal, to national explorer (albeit eventually failed), to hero in the battle against the Spanish Armada will always be somewhat of a mystery. There can be little doubt that he had the heart of a lion, which was much to his advantage in his dangerous work. However, it seemed that an unhealthy love of wealth corrupted him.
Born in Yorkshire, England in the mid-to-late 1530’s, Martin Frobisher displayed a dauntless, uncouth attitude towards society. It was these rough, undisciplined characteristics that were probably responsible for him being sent to sea in his teenage years. Reportedly, on an expedition to West Africa he returned as one of few survivors. The experience would stand him in good stead for his future endeavours. Run-ins with Portuguese rivals also helped toughen him up somewhat, as did a spell in a Portuguese gaol.
Frobisher’s love of money began to emerge, so he took up a career as a privateer. That basically meant he was able to raid other ships so long as he had gained the permission of Queen Elizabeth I. Spain and Portugal therefore were considered fair play. However, Frobisher developed into a loose cannon and it could not be predicted where, or against whom he would strike next. Also, in the 1560’s Elizabeth was in peace discussions with Spain and one act too many of innovative self-advancement on the part of the English scoundrel led to his imprisonment. This would become a recurring theme throughout that decade.
Knowing that it didn’t take a great misdeed to be decapitated by the Queen, Martin Frobisher offered himself as a special enforcer of the seas, who would pursue and apprehend unwanted privateers and pirates. Luckily, Elizabeth agreed and it seemed that Frobisher was off the hook. Soon afterwards though, it was rumoured he was dealing with Irish Catholics, a treasonable offence, but once more he was spared his life. From about 1574 it seemed the English government became very wary of him, no doubt because of his previous misdeeds. This led Frobisher to briefly consider, but not fulfil, a career under Spanish rule.
Rather bizarrely, it would seem, two years later he was allowed to set sail under an English flag in a hunt for the then rumoured North West Passage. The journey was funded by Michael Lok, who also carried persuasive powers in political circles. If it were found, Frobisher would be covered in glory. It would mean a trade route to Asia free of trouble from Spanish and Portuguese vessels and a much shorter voyage as well. The Englishman declared he would die before failing to find the route – a bold claim from a brave man.
Three vessels set sail across the Atlantic. One, a pinnace (typically an eight-oared boat) was too small to fulfil a role in the voyage and was subsequently sunk. The other two ships were of about twenty-five tonnes and one of them was forced to turn back after the rough North Atlantic seas damaged it beyond immediate repair. The remaining ship comprised of Frobisher, several mariners and the Queen’s Councillors, who wanted to keep a close eye on the unpredictable pirate. The ship landed on Resolution Island, which Frobisher named ‘Queen Elizabeth’s Foreland’. They pressed on to Hall Island, which was named ‘North Foreland’, and then discovered ‘Frobisher Strait’,so named because Frobisher believed it separated North America from Asia.
His assumption was wrong though. ‘Frobisher Strait’ was in fact a 150-mile inlet, which became known in modern times as Frobisher Bay. The explorers also believed that the Inuit people on the northern stretch of land were a northern tribe of the Khan dynasty, so they took a hostage to show the people back home. Of more interest at the time however was an unusual black ore. They stored some of this on the ship to have it analysed on their return to England. It may have been that others on the ship were frightened to speak up in argument against these cases being proof they had reached Asia. Frobisher was a fearsome man who didn’t take kindly to unwanted, contradictory suggestions.
The voyage returned triumphant. They paraded the Inuit in front of a curious crowd and had the ore sent to be examined by the Royal Assayer. He determined that there was no gold in the ore. Undetermined, the group sent it to a dubious Italian assayer, Jean Baptiste Agnello, who argued that it did contain some form of gold.
A second expedition was arranged, but it seemed that Martin Frobisher had lost his passion for finding the North West Passage. Instead, he smelt profit. Rather than bolster the crew with expert navigators and cartographers the ship was filled with miners and their equipment. Upon reaching their goal they set about claiming around two hundred tonnes of the ore, fully loading the three ships at their disposal. Again they returned to England as heroes.
A third expedition was quickly set up, much larger than the two previous. This time fifteen ships sailed with the idea of setting up a permanent colony in what was thought of as Northern Asia. Back home, grave misgivings were afoot concerning the authenticity of the golden sparkle in the black ore. The fleet mistakenly sailed up Hudson Bay, which Frobisher named, rather predictably ‘Mistaken Strait’. Things began to go horribly wrong though when severe storms sank many of the supply ships. The expedition was forced to return home.
Upon their return, they were told that the ore was of similar value to house bricks. Frobisher, in an attempt to appease the expedition investors blamed everybody else. Remarkably, he escaped severe punishment again and was free to return to his life of privateering and piracy.
In the 1580’s, he became a leading figure in the English Navy, commanding the Primrose in 1585 as a Vice Admiral in Sir Francis Drake’s expedition to the West Indies. A year later he was given command of the largest man-o-war – Triumph – in the battle against the Spanish Armada. In the melee he excelled and was subsequently knighted onboard the Ark Royal.
The last voyage of Sir Martin Frobisher occured in 1594. Fighting the Spanish off the French coast he was mortally wounded. He grittily managed to return to Plymouth harbour but died soon afterwards.
Never as famous as Drake or Raleigh, probably because of his rather unscrupulous deeds, Sir Martin Frobisher was still a loveable rogue. He was most courageous and often won the affections of a crew with his valiant efforts. The question remains though – had not Frobisher become fascinated by the lure of riches, would he have become one of the great explorers with the discovery of the North West Passage?
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