He set sail May 7, 1631, that is, four days after Thomas James, to seek the Northwest Passage, on a ship loaned to him by his majesty the King, James I (IV of Scotland), bearing a letter which was to reach the Emperor of Japan, if, of course he made it to the Pacific.
As he arrived at Hudson's Bay, Foxe, or "the North-West Foxe," as he was known, reached Cape Fullerton after following the coasts of Southampton Island, a route not taken by his rival James, where he named an island after a sponsor of the voyage: Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome, which is now, as Roes Welcome, the name of the channel separating Southampton Island from the mainland.
Going south he stopped at the mouth of the Nelson for two weeks in order to bring his ship up for some repairs.
On July 29, Foxe met with James at Cape Henrietta Maria, ate for the night and in the morning their crews split up again.
As he explored northeast he discovered Foxe Channel, which to his belief was the passage to the Pacific, contradicting previous explorers on the existence of the Northwest Passage.
He tried to go up the channel but, forced by ice to retreat, returned to England because the health of his crew grew worse.
As a result of this voyage, Foxe's name shall go down in history as the first man to circumnavigate Hudson Bay. Interestingly enough, Foxe's crew came back as even strengthed as the day they left (that is, nobody died; some were sick though), which turns out to be another first for Foxe.
Foxe returned about a year before James's return and therefore gave much knowledge about the region to Europe, which he published under the title "North-West Foxe, or Foxe from the NorthWest Passage," which appeared in 1635.
His name is associated to this day with the Foxe Channel, Foxe Peninsula and the Foxe basin located around the Hudson Bay. Luke Foxe died sometime in 1635.
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