Francis Lucas ( – 1770) naval officer and merchant trader born

Clontibret Clontibret () is a village and parish in County Monaghan, Ireland. The village population in the 2016 census was 172. Clontibret is also a parish in both Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland traditions. The territory of the parish also includes ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and died while at sea. He had helped establish trading relationships between

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

that went on the secure the English

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

along that coast. Lucas served on a naval ship in charge of monitoring the fisheries along the Labrador coast from 1764 to 1766 when in 1765 he had accompanied two Moravian missionaries

Jens Haven Jens Haven (June 23, 1724 – April 16, 1796) was a Danish-Canadian Moravian missionary and the prime mover behind the founding of the Moravian missions in Labrador. Biography Jens Haven was born at Sønderhaven in Vust parish, Jammerbugt, ...

and Christian Drachart in search of the

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

of Labrador.Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, Volume Three, (p 384) These missionaries had established contact with

Mikak Mikak ( – October 1, 1795), also known as Micock, Mycock, or Mecock, was born in Labrador, Canada and died at Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador. She was one of several Inuit to travel to Europe in the 18th century and return to North America, ...

and her family. In 1767 Lucas became second in command of

Fort York Fort York (french: Fort-York) is an early 19th-century military fortification in the Fort York neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used to house members of the British and Canadian militaries, and to defend the entrance of t ...

at Chateau Bay. Lucas and a group of his men had killed at least 20 Inuit for

plunder Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

ing a nearby fishing station. He had taken a number of them prisoner, along which was Mikak. In 1770 Lucas left the navy and established a business partnership with

Thomas Handasyd Perkins Colonel Thomas Handasyd Perkins, also known as T. H. Perkins (December 15, 1764 – January 11, 1854), was an American merchant, slave trader, smuggler and philanthropist from a wealthy Boston Brahmin family. Starting with bequests from his grand ...

and Jeremiah Coghlan, merchants of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England, and Fogo,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, and George Cartwright to trade with the Inuit of Labrador. He had tried in vain to make contact with Mikak but was unsuccessful. Lucas then left for Fogo where he set out for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

with a cargo of dry fish aboard the ''Enterprize'' which foundered at sea.

References and notes

External links

Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Francis 1740s births 1770 deaths Royal Navy officers People from County Monaghan People from Newfoundland (island)

See also

References and notes

External links