Explorers of Canada, Part XXI: Christopher Middleton

Another Northwest Passage seeker: Christopher Middleton. It has been quite hard to find any information about Christopher Middleton. However, he is quite important in the sense that his mission was not only to find the Northwest Passage but also to disprove or prove theories that the Hudson's Bay Company was trying to avoid having such a passage found, as it would surely lead to losses by the company due to loss of monopoly over the lands.

Since the discovery of the New World, while there was colonisation, the principal interest of the nations concerned, primarily England and France, was to find a way to Asia as had been the original plan. While France searched primarily for an inland trek to find the Pacific Ocean by use of the Saint Laurent and other rivers inland, England focused on the Arctic route. After many years, the Hudson's Bay Company owned all the land and efforts to find the Arctic route, the so-called Northwest Passage, had started to slow down, and no sign of its existence appeared. Many merchants, who surely wanted a quicker route to Asia than the Southwest Passage, were sceptical of the Hudson's Bay Company's motives as to the discovery of the passage. To appease their minds, and especially that of Irish parliamentarian Arthur Dobbs, the HBC sent off Captain Christopher Middleton to seek out the Northwest Passage on board the Furnace in 1741 or 1742. Among the people on board was Lieutenant John Rankin of the British Royal Navy, who was on board as representative of the Crown.

Christopher Middleton began his search for the Northwest Passage by entering the Hudson's Bay. As we know now this was completely useless as the Northwest Passage actually lies north and it had also been proven by previous explorers that the Northwest Passage didn't come from the bay. Middleton and his crew wintered at Fort Prince of Wales, on the southwest coast of the bay, north of York Factory. After the winter he sailed north along the coast, naming and discovering Wagner's Inlet. He noted that they were probably just bays and not possible passages to the Pacific. He tried to enter an uncharted area of the bay that he though might be the secluded Northwest Passage. Unfortunately for him, it turned out to be another dead end. He was so disapointed that he named the area Repulse Bay.

Middleton then headed north, more north than any European, before heading east and back to England. His inconclusive trip angered Dobbs and the English merchants, who accused Christopher Middleton of being bribed by the Hudson's Bay Company. Middleton was charged with suppressing knowledge to cover up for HBC. Middleton died in 1770.

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