Henry Hudson the Explorer for Kids ***

1: There is little evidence of the early life of Henry Hudson, though it is thought he was born around 1565, and probably spent a good deal of time at sea. It’s speculated that he started out as a cabin boy and progressed to become a ships captain.

2: In 1607, Henry Hudson was employed by the Muscovy Company (an English trading company) to find a northern route to Asia via the Arctic Ocean. He set sail with a small crew on a small ship, the ’Hopewell’, on 1st May.

3: On 14th June 1607, Henry Hudson arrived at the east coast of Greenland before heading north and sailing into an area with numerous whales. It’s believed that following his reports this area became a new hunting ground. Shortly after, Henry Hudson came up against pack ice which prevented him going any further. Consequently he returned to England, arriving at Tilbury on 15th September.

4: In 1608, Henry Hudson was, once again, sent by the Muscovy Company to find passage to Asia in the ‘Hopewell’, this time by sailing east across the north of Russia. This expedition was also forced to return to England after encountering impenetrable ice. He arrived back in Gravesend in August 1608.

5: In 1609 Henry Hudson was employed to find a north eastern route to Asia, this time by the Dutch East India Company. He sailed from Amsterdam aboard the Halve Maen (Half Moon) on 4th April. Henry Hudson had been instructed to sail north of Russia through the Arctic Ocean and into the Pacific, however his passage was again blocked by ice.

6: Henry Hudson decided to disregard his instructions and headed west to attempt to find a passage to the Pacific in that direction. Henry Hudson had heard of a passage to the Pacific, via North America, from the English explorer John Smith. John Smith had gained this information from the Native Americans.

7: By mid-July 1609, Henry Hudson had arrived in Nova Scotia. They stayed there while they repaired a mast and on 25th July a small party of men from the ship attacked a nearby village, driving the inhabitants away and stealing their property.

8: By 3rd September, travelling via Cape Cod, Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay, Henry Hudson had reached the estuary of the river that would become known as the Hudson. Following the death of one of his crew, John Colman, by an Indian arrow in his neck on September 6th, Henry Hudson began to explore the river.

9: On 23rd September, having reached the point where Albany, the capital of New York now stands, Henry Hudson decided to return to Europe. He sailed into Dartmouth, England on 7th November and was promptly held by the authorities, who wanted access to his log. However, he'd managed to get the log to the Dutch Ambassador to England, who sent it on to Amsterdam.

10: The expedition, that Henry Hudson had undertaken, led to Dutch claims over the region, and in 1614 a trading post was set up in Albany. In 1625 New Amsterdam, on Manhattan Island, became the capital of New Netherland.

11: In 1610, Henry Hudson set off on another expedition, this time on the ‘Discovery’, funded by the British East India Company and the Virginia Company. He sailed, via Iceland and Greenland, to the strait now known as Hudson Strait, and on 2nd August entered Hudson Bay. He explored and mapped the coast for several months without finding a way through to the Pacific, and in November, the ship became trapped in ice in James Bay.

12: In the spring of 1611 the ice cleared and Henry Hudson planned to continue his expedition, however, the majority of the crew wanted to return home. This led to a mutiny in June and, as a consequence, Henry Hudson, his teenage son John and a few others were set adrift in a small open boat. Henry Hudson was never seen or heard from again.