Biography:Henry Hudson
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Not much is known for certain about Hudson's life or any of his voyages before 1607. He learned his craft and skills by travelling with contemporary seafarers, probably British mariners (possibly even sailing with John Davis on one his voyages to the Arctic) because by the time of his first recorded voyage, he was a captain. His contributions to the exploration of the world as it was then known have generally been understated by modern sources, and overshadowed by greater exploits of his contemporaries. No contemporary painting or portrait of Henry Hudson has ever been found and even the oldest we have were painted after his death by people who probably based their artwork solely on a description.
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Hudson was the architect of his own fateful tragedy that led to the mutiny in 1611. Obsessed by the vision of a northwest passage, he often ignored everything around him in his quest to find it. That included his crew. Almost every voyage indicated some form of crew uprising or mutiny. Hudson appeared weak and vacillated between appeasement and force when dealing with crew, seldom disciplining them when or as required, often showing favouritism to some members at the expense of the others (and of his own authority).His attempt to show leniency to mutinous crew in Ungava Bay only led to further abuses and ultimately his demise. He appeared unable to manage his men in times of stress.
Continue................His Voyages
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