Henry Hudson Fact Sheet: Who was Henry Hudson? The following short biography and fact sheet provides interesting facts about the life, times and history of Henry Hudson.

Henry Hudson Fact File: Lifespan: 1565 – 1611 *** Full Name: Henry Hudson *** Occupation: English Navigator and Explorer *** Date of Birth: Henry Hudson was born it is believed in 1565 although there are no definitive records to prove this *** Place of Birth: Henry Hudson was born in London, England *** Family background: There is really no information regarding his family background *** Early life and childhood: Where he grew up is largely unknown
*** Education: Henry Hudson was probably educated by his father or other male family members ***

Henry Hudson Fact 1: Henry Hudson was born around 1565 and during the 16th century period in history when Portugal and Spain were exploring the oceans of the world and colonizing new lands.

Henry Hudson Fact 2: Although there are no official records it was common practice for boys wanting to go to see to join the crew of a ship as a cabin boy and work their way through the ranks.

Henry Hudson Fact 3: During 1607 it is known that the Muscovy Company located in England, employed Hudson to travel North and locate a route that would take him to the Pacific coast of Asia.

Henry Hudson Fact 4: During this time the English where in conflict with the Dutch over routes heading North.

Henry Hudson Fact 5: It was also believed that for the three months of the high summer period the sun was able to melt the ice and allow ships to travel across the top part of the world.

Henry Hudson Fact 6: Having worked his way up through the ranks Hudson had attained the rank of captain and together with ten crewman and a cabin boy they set sail on the Hopewell on May 1st 1607.

Henry Hudson Fact 7: By June they had reached Greenland and sailing East from Greenland they sighted Newland in late June.

Henry Hudson Fact 8: From Newland they began to make passage North until finally and unfortunately they began to encounter icy conditions preventing them from going any further. In late July they found they could go no further and made their return journey to England.

Henry Hudson Fact 9: During that voyage large numbers of whales were spotted in the local waters.

Henry Hudson Fact 10: On September 15th they landed at Tilbury Hope on the Thames River, England.

Henry Hudson Fact 11: Hudson would again be employed to explore the potential for a passageway by the East India and Muscovy Companies of England, this time to the Indies and travelling towards northern Russia.

Henry Hudson Fact 12: The Hopewell left London on April 22 1608 and although they manage to travel a goodly distance some way above the Arctic Circle in the height of summer during July, they still found the ice impenetrable and made their return back to Gravesend arriving on August 26th.

Henry Hudson Fact 13: The following year in 1609 the Dutch East India Company out of the Netherlands approached Hudson to locate a passage to Asia via an easterly direction.

Henry Hudson Fact 14: His ship on the voyage was the Halve Maen and he set sail from Amsterdam on April 4th.

Henry Hudson Fact 15: Following his instructions he found his passage blocked again by ice but instead of returning to Amsterdam, he turned the ship West and sought passage through North America.

Henry Hudson Fact 16: He reached Newfoundland in early July and by August 4th they had reached Cape Cod. From Cape Cod they made their way south to Chesapeake Bay.

Henry Hudson Fact 17: Still continuing north to Hudson Bay he proceeded to spend the next ten days ascending the river to what is today the capital Albany.

Henry Hudson Fact 18: By September 23rd they began their return trip and landed at Dartmouth, England on November 7th where the authorities detained them but he nevertheless managed to slip the log to the Dutch ambassador who in turn forwarded the report to Amsterdam.

Henry Hudson Fact 19: His next trip would be under an English flag again this time for the British East India Company and the Virginia Company as captain of the vessel Discovery.

Henry Hudson Fact 20: On the departure the vessel headed North and reached Iceland on May 11th and then began to head south and around the southerly most part of Greenland towards the Hudson Strait around the northern most tip of Labrador. Over the coming months they explored and mapped the eastern shores but the longed for northern passage was still not found.

Henry Hudson Fact 21: By November, in James Bay, the Discovery became surrounded by ice and so the ship’s crew moved to land for the winter period.

Henry Hudson Fact 21: As spring approached and ice began to break up Hudson’s plans were to further explore the region in the continuing hope of discovering the northwest passage, however his crew were unhappy with his plans and in June of 1611, the crew of the Discovery mounted a mutiny that would see the captain, his son John, a young teenage boy and seven crewmen who were unwell or infirm into a small open boat with various provisions and set adrift. Their fate was unknown, they were never heard of or discovered.

Influence & Legacy: Various places around North America bear the name of the explorer Henry Hudson for example, the Hudson River, Hudson County in New Jersey, the Henry Hudson Bridge, in New York there is a town called Hudson and the Henry Hudson Parkway.