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John Meares (c. 1756 – 1809) was an English navigator, explorer, and
maritime fur trade The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exc ...
r, best known for his role in the
Nootka Crisis The Nootka Crisis, also known as the Spanish Armament, was an international incident and political dispute between the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, the Spanish Empire, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the fledgling United States of America triggered b ...
, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war.


Career

Meares' father was Charles Meares, "formerly an attorney of great eminence, and for several years pursuivant of his Majesty's Court of Exchequer in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
". In 1771, Meares joined the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
as a captain's servant and was commissioned a lieutenant in 1778. In 1783 he joined the merchant service and in 1785, based in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, formed the ''Northwest America Company'' for collecting
sea otter The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smal ...
furs by trade with the
indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as the centrality of sal ...
and selling them in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. The
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...
held a monopoly on British trade in the Pacific and required all British traders to be licensed with the company and pay duties. Meares did not license his ships with the East India Company and instead tried to conceal the illegal activity by using the flag of
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 th ...
. Meares registered his ships in
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
, a Portuguese colony in China. Non-British ships were not required to have licences from the East India Company. He sailed from
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
on 12 March 1786, in the ''Nootka'', a vessel of 200 tons ( bm), with which he explored part of the coast of
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...
. He spent the winter of 1786–1787 in Prince William Sound with poor provisions; his men suffered from the weather and
scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease, disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, ch ...
. Twenty-three of his men died of
scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease, disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, ch ...
and the remaining ten were saved only by the timely arrival of Captain George Dixon, a British trader with proper licences, in the ''Queen Charlotte''. Meares gave Dixon his bond never to trade in the Northwest again, and returned to China by way of the
Sandwich Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Ku ...
. Showing no gratitude to Dixon, Meares proceeded to sue him for allegedly overcharging him for the supplies that saved his life. In 1788, and in total violation of what he had told Dixon, Meares started a new expedition with two vessels and more false papers. The ships sailed under the Portuguese flag and were given Portuguese names: the ''Felice Adventurero'', captained by Meares, and the ''Iphigenia Nubiana'', under William Douglas. The names are spelled in various ways, such as ''Feliz Aventureira'' and ''Efigenia Nubiana''.Meares, John
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
They sailed from China on 22 January 1788 and arrived at Nootka Sound, on
Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...
in May. Using Nootka Sound as a base of operations he spent the summer trading for furs along the coasts of present-day
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
and Washington down to after having sailed as far south as Cape Lookout, having missed the
Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
at Cape Disappointment. Meares later claimed that
Maquinna Maquinna (also transliterated Muquinna, Macuina, Maquilla) was the chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Nootka Sound, during the heyday of the maritime fur trade in the 1780s and 1790s on the Pacific Northwest Coast. The name means "possessor of ...
, a chief of the
Nuu-chah-nulth The Nuu-chah-nulth (; Nuučaan̓uł: ), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifte ...
(Nootka) people, sold him some land on the shore of
Friendly Cove Yuquot , also known as Friendly Cove, is a small settlement of around six people—the Williams family of the Mowachaht band—plus two full-time lighthouse keepers, located on Nootka Island in Nootka Sound, just west of Vancouver Island, British C ...
in Nootka Sound, in exchange for some pistols and trade goods, and that on this land some kind of building was erected. These claims would become a key point in Britain's position during the Nootka Crisis. Spain strongly disputed both claims, and the true facts of the matter have never been fully established. Maquinna himself later called Meares a liar and denied selling him any land. The land and building aside, there is no doubt that Meares' men, and a group of Chinese workers they brought, built the sloop ''
North West America ''North West America'' was a British merchant ship that sailed on maritime fur trading ventures in the late 1780s. It was the first non-indigenous vessel built in the Pacific Northwest. In 1789 it was captured at Nootka Sound by Esteban José M ...
''. It was launched in September 1788, the first non-Indigenous vessel built in the Pacific Northwest. In September Meares left, sailing the ''Felice Adventurero'' to China. The ''Iphigenia Nubiana'' and ''North West America'' wintered in the
Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost ...
. While on the island of
Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest islan ...
, Meares picked up a Hawaiian chief or "prince of Attooi" (Kauai) by the name of Tianna ( Kaʻiana – also spelled Tyaana & Tyanna), whom he took aboard his ship. He took Tianna to
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...
(Canton), China, where Meares found a Hawaiian woman by the name of Wynee, who had been left there by captain Charles William Barkley of the '' Imperial Eagle''. Eventually, Meares returned Tianna to his homeland but Wynee died of illness on the voyage home. Wynee and Tianna are considered the first two Hawaiians to have traveled abroad. Later, Meares gained possession of Barkley's nautical gear and his journal. Barkley's wife,
Frances Barkley Frances Barkley was wife of Captain Charles William Barkley, who traveled with him. She is considered to be the first European woman to have ever visited Canada's west coast. Frances was the first woman to sail around the world without deception. On ...
, later wrote that Meares, "with the greatest effrontery, published and claimed the merit of my husband's discoveries therein contained, besides inventing lies of the most revolting nature tending to vilify the person he thus pilfered."BARKLEY, Frances
ABCBookWorld
During the winter of 1788–89 Meares was in
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...
(Canton), China, where he and others formed a partnership called the Associated Merchants Trading to the Northwest Coast of America. Plans were made for more ships to sail to the Pacific Northwest in 1789, including the ''
Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been se ...
'', under Thomas Hudson, and the ''Argonaut'' under
James Colnett James Colnett (1753 – 1 September 1806) was an officer of the British Royal Navy, an explorer, and a maritime fur trader. He served under James Cook during Cook's second voyage of exploration. Later he led two private trading expeditions that ...
. The consolidation of the fur trading companies of Meares and the Etches (
King George's Sound Company The King George's Sound Company, also known as Richard Cadman Etches and Company after its "prime mover and principal investor", was an English company formed in 1785 to engage in the maritime fur trade on the northwest coast of North America. The ...
) resulted in James Colnett being given the overall command. Meares instructed Colnett to establish a permanent fur trading post at Nootka Sound based on the foothold accomplished by Meares the year before. The ''Iphigenia Nubiana'' and ''North West America'' were to join the ''Argonaut'' and ''Princess Royal'' at Nootka Sound. Meares himself remained in China.


Nootka Crisis

While the British fur traders were getting organized, the Spanish were continuing their effort to secure the Pacific Northwest. At first the Spanish were responding mainly to Russian activity in Alaska. On a 1788 voyage to Alaska, Esteban José Martínez had learned that the Russians were intending to establish a fortified outpost at Nootka Sound. This, in addition to the increasing use of Nootka Sound by British fur traders, resulted in the Spanish decision to assert sovereignty on the northwest coast once and for all. Plans were laid for Nootka Sound to be colonized. Spain hoped to establish and maintain sovereignty on the entire coast as far north as the Russia posts in Prince William Sound. The Viceroy of
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...
, Manuel Antonio Flórez, instructed Martínez to occupy Nootka Sound, build some kind of structure, and to make it clear that Spain was setting up a formal establishment. Martínez arrived at Nootka Sound on 5 May 1789. He found three ships already there. One was Meares' ''Iphigenia Nubiana''. Martínez seized the ship and arrested its captain, William Douglas. After a few days Martínez released Douglas and his ship and ordered him to leave and not return. Douglas heeded the warning. The other two ships were American, the ''
Columbia Rediviva ''Columbia Rediviva'' (commonly known as ''Columbia'') was a privately owned American ship under the command, first, of John Kendrick, and later Captain Robert Gray, best known for going to the Pacific Northwest for the maritime fur trade. ...
'' and the ''
Lady Washington ''Lady Washington'' is a ship name shared by at least four different 80-100 ton-class Sloop-of-war and merchant sailing vessels during two different time periods. The original sailed during the American Revolutionary War and harassed British ship ...
'', under John Kendrick and Robert Gray, which had wintered at Nootka Sound. Over the summer a number of other ships arrived. The vessels of Meares' company were all seized on the grounds of violating Spanish rights of trade and navigation on the coast. The ''North West America'' was renamed ''Santa Saturnina'' and used by
José María Narváez José María Narváez (1768 – August 4, 1840) was a Spanish naval officer, explorer, and navigator notable for his work in the Gulf Islands and Lower Mainland of present-day British Columbia. In 1791, as commander of the schooner '' Santa ...
to explore the
Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...
in 1791. When news of the seizures reached Meares in China he sailed to England. He arrived in April 1790, confirmed various rumors, claimed to have bought land and built a settlement at Nootka before Martínez, and generally fanned the flames of anti-Spanish feelings. He submitted a report to the Home secretary
William Wyndham Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration o ...
, in which he exaggerated the permanence of his settlement in Nootka Sound and the financial losses sustained by his company. In May the issue was taken up in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
as the Royal Navy began to make preparations for hostilities.The Nootka Crisis, pp. 1-3
Canadian Military Heritage
An ultimatum was delivered to Spain, who without the support of France, capitulated to British terms. The subsequent
Nootka Convention The Nootka Sound Conventions were a series of three agreements between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Great Britain, signed in the 1790s, which averted a war between the two countries over overlapping claims to portions of the Pacific No ...
led to
George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what are ...
's historic voyage in .


Later life

In 1790, Meares published ''Voyages Made in the Years 1788 and 1789, from China to the North West Coast of America'' in 1790. It gained widespread attention, especially in light of the developing
Nootka Crisis The Nootka Crisis, also known as the Spanish Armament, was an international incident and political dispute between the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, the Spanish Empire, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the fledgling United States of America triggered b ...
. Meares not only described his voyages to the northwest coast, but put forward a grand vision of a new economic network based in the Pacific, joining in trade widely separated regions such as the Pacific Northwest, China, Japan, Hawaii, and England. His vision required a loosening of the monopolistic power of the East India Company and the
South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
, which between them controlled all British trade in the Pacific. Meares argued strongly for loosening their power. His vision eventually came to pass, in its general form, but not before the long struggle of the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
was over. Meares' ''Voyages'' also caused a controversy; Meares' criticisms of George Dixon led the latter to publish a pamphlet about Meares' self-aggrandizement and false claims of discoveries made by others. Meares' claim that Captain Robert Gray had circumnavigated Vancouver island was disclaimed by Gray himself. The explorations of Captain
George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what are ...
disproved a number of Meares' other claims. Nonetheless, Meares' claims formed a basis for negotiation of British title to
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
and
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
. Not much is known of Meares' life after the settlement of the Nootka controversy. So far as is known he received none of the Spanish indemnity money. He was rewarded for his role by promotion to the rank of commander on 26 February 1795. The marriage of "John Meares Esq. of Frome, ornwall to Miss Mary Anne Guilleband, at the Abbey church, Bath" was noted in ''The Whitehall Evening Post'' of 9 July 1796. Meares apparently considered Bath his home after his retirement from the Navy, and according to his "last will and testament" he owned property in
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...
. The death of John Meares, "a Commander in his Majesty’s Navy", at Bath on 29 January 1809, was noted in a newspaper advertisement by his solicitors inviting his creditors to a meeting at the George and Vulture Tavern,
Cornhill, London Cornhill (formerly also Cornhil) is a ward and street in the City of London, the historic nucleus and financial centre of modern London. The street runs between Bank Junction and Leadenhall Street. The hill from which it takes its name is one ...
, to take consideration of the state of his affairs. The value of his estate when probated was estimated to be under £7,500. His will listed no spouse or child, but a brother and sister were among the beneficiaries. Perhaps his wife, the former Mary Ann Guilliband, whom he married in 1796, was already deceased.


Legacy

A number of places in the Pacific Northwest bear the name of Meares: *
Cape Meares Cape Meares is a small headland on the Pacific coast in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The cape forms a high steep bluff on the south end of Tillamook Bay, approximately five miles (8 km) northwest of the city of Tillamo ...
, Oregon *
Meares Island Meares Island is one of the many islands surrounding the Village of Tofino, British Columbia, Canada. Its name was given in 1862 by George Henry Richards, captain of , in honor of John Meares. The island is located in the Clayoquot Sound region an ...
, located in the entrance of
Clayoquot Sound , image = Clayoquot Sound - Near Tofino - Vancouver Island BC - Canada - 08.jpg , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = , image_bathymetry = Vancouver clayoquot sound de.png , alt_bathyme ...
, British Columbia. * Meares Point, British Columbia * Meares Bluff, British Columbia *
Meares Glacier The Meares Glacier is a large and only tidewater glacier at the head of Unakwik Inlet in Chugach National Forest, Alaska. The glacier is one of the many in Prince William Sound, and is about 79.6 miles (128 km) east of Anchorage. The glacier ...
, Alaska * Meares Passage, Alaska * Meares Island, Alaska * Meares Point, Alaska * Port Meares, Alaska * Felice Island, British Columbia, named for Meares' ship * Felice Strait, Alaska, also named for Meares' ship


See also

* Fenis and St. Joseph * Lot's Wife (crag)


References


Further reading


Biography
at the ''
Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' (1885) * McDougall, Walter A. (1993). ''Let the Sea Make a Noise: A History of the North Pacific from Magellan to MacArthur''. BasicBooks. * Robert J. King, "John Meares: Dubliner, Naval Officer, Fur Trader and would be Colonizer", J''ournal of Australian Naval History,'' vol.8, no.1, March 2011, pp. 32–62; also at Alexandro Malaspina Research Centre Research Papers http://web.viu.ca/black/amrc/index.htm?home.htm&

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meares, John 1756 births 18th-century explorers Royal Navy officers English explorers Explorers of British Columbia Explorers of Oregon Fur traders Navigators People from County Dublin 1809 deaths