Hudson, Henry

(born &circa; 1565, England—died after June 22, 1611, in or near Hudson Bay?) English navigator and explorer. Sailing for the Muscovy Company of London in search of the Northeast Passage to the Far East, he was blocked by ice fields.

In 1609 he set out in the Half Moon to find a similar passage for the Dutch East India Company, but, when stopped by storms, he instead sought the Northwest Passage, which he had recently heard about from other explorers, and cruised along the Atlantic coast and up the Hudson River. In 1610 he set out again for America, this time on behalf of the Muscovy Company and the English East India Company, and discovered Hudson Bay. Finding no outlet to the Pacific and in the close confinement of an Arctic winter, Hudson's crew fell to quarreling, and on the homeward voyage they mutinied and set Hudson adrift in a small boat, never to be found. His discoveries formed the basis for Dutch colonization of the Hudson River and for English claims to much of Canada.