George Best (1555–1584) was a member of the second and third

Martin Frobisher Sir Martin Frobisher (; c. 1535 – 22 November 1594) was an English seaman and privateer who made three voyages to the New World looking for the North-west Passage. He probably sighted Resolution Island near Labrador in north-eastern Canada ...

voyages in positions of importance; as Frobisher's lieutenant on the second and as captain of the ''Anne Francis'' on the third. In 1578 he published ''A True Discourse of the Late Voyages of Discoverie''.

Life

He was the son of Robert Best, an interpreter for the

Muscovy Company The Muscovy Company (also called the Russia Company or the Muscovy Trading Company russian: Московская компания, Moskovskaya kompaniya) was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint ...

, and Anne Bowman, and the brother of the sea captain Thomas Best, and Henry who may have been involved in works based on the ''True Discourse''. Sir Christopher Hatton as backer nominated Best to take part in one of the Frobisher voyages. Best was killed in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

with Oliver St. John, later

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...

, around March 1584. The precise motive for the duel is unclear, but it was most likely provoked by the bad-tempered St. John, who called himself "the child of wrath".

Works

The ''True Discourse'' discussed the First Frobisher Voyage, in which Best did not participate, as well as the other two (1577 and 1578) where he was an eye-witness. It appeared in the exploration collection of

Richard Hakluyt Richard Hakluyt (; 1553 – 23 November 1616) was an English writer. He is known for promoting the English colonization of North America through his works, notably ''Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America'' (1582) and ''The Pri ...

. Later, in reprinting the material, Hakluyt removed some passages, in particular one suggesting that the aim of the exploration was prospecting for minerals, rather than the North-West Passage.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Best, George 1584 deaths Canadian explorers 16th-century Canadian people English explorers English chroniclers 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers Duelling fatalities English duellists 1555 births