Sir Thomas Button ( 1575 - April 1634) was a Welsh officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, notable as an

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

who in 1612–1613 commanded an expedition that unsuccessfully attempted to locate explorer

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

and to navigate the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

Early life

Born around 1575, he was the fourth son of Miles Button of Worlton,

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Edward Lewis. His father's family had been landowners, originally at

Bitton Bitton is a village and civil parish of South Gloucestershire in Gloucestershire, England, to the east of Bristol and on the River Boyd. The parish of Bitton had a population of 9,307, and apart from the village itself, includes Swineford, ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, since the 1100s. Around 1595 he married Elizabeth, daughter of landowner Sir Walter Rice of Newton House, Llandeilo, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edward Mansell of

Margam Margam is a suburb and community (Wales), community of Port Talbot in the Wales, Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, close to junction 39 of the M4 motorway. The community had a population of 3,017 in 2011; the built up area being l ...

. This made him a nephew of the prominent naval officer Sir

Robert Mansell Sir Robert Mansell (1573–1656) was an admiral of the English Royal Navy and a Member of Parliament (MP), mostly for Wales, Welsh constituencies. His name was sometimes given as Mansfield and Maunsell. Early life Mansel was a Welshman, the so ...

, from whose patronage he benefited for the rest of his career.

Arctic exploration

In April 1612, he was given command of two navy ships, ''Resolution'' and ''Discovery'', to lead an expedition in search of the

. Sailing from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

around the beginning of May 1612, they reached the mouth of a river which he named the

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

after the ship's master, who had died. They wintered at what is now known as Port Nelson and the next year headed north to search for the Northwest Passage. They lost the ''Resolution'' to

sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less density, dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's oceans. Much of the world' ...

and continued on to 65° North. He discovered and named

Mansel Island Mansel Island (Inuktitut: Pujjunaq), a member of the Arctic Archipelago, is an uninhabited island in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut. It is located in Hudson Bay off Quebec's Ungava Peninsula. At in size, it is the 159th largest island in the worl ...

and returned to England in September 1613. He is credited with exploring and securing the west coast of

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

for his country, naming the area New Wales. The region would again be visited twelve years later in 1631 by Captains Thomas James and Luke Foxe. Supposedly, upon discovering a cross erected by Button at Port Nelson, Captain Foxe christened the shore north of the Nelson River as New North Wales and all the lands south as

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Button and his men were some of the first recorded Europeans to explore the area now known as

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

and his discovery meant that others followed after him, using his landmarks, his stories, and his detailed notes. The first maps of areas near Hudson Bay were struck from his explorations and from those of his predecessor,

Later life

On his return, he was appointed Admiral of the Irish Coasts in command of the Irish Squadron and on 30 August 1616 was knighted by the Lord Deputy of Ireland. The activity of pirates and smugglers at

Pwllheli Pwllheli ( ; ) is a market town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula (), in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011, which declined slightly to 3,947 in 2021; a large proportion (81%) were Welsh language, Welsh speaking. ...

in the Cardigan Bay occupied the subject in 1631."Charles I - volume 196: July 1-19, 1631." ''Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1631-3.'' Ed. John Bruce. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1862. 97-114
British History Online website
Retrieved 7 June 2021. Despite his standing in the Navy, his subsequent career was marked by prolonged quarrels with the Admiralty, wrongs being committed on both sides, resulting in the end with him in ill-health being stripped of his post as Admiral and left effectively bankrupt. He was buried on 8 April 1634 at the church of

St Margaret's, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret the Virgin, Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Pal ...

, survived by his wife and five of their seven children. He left no will and his Welsh lands passed to his eldest son, Miles, who had to mortgage them to meet his father's debts. After waiting three years, his widow received 650 pounds (equivalent to about 98,000 pounds in 2015) from the government in settlement of pay and expenses he was owed.

References

External links

*
Manitoba Historical Society Biography of Button
{{DEFAULTSORT:Button, Thomas 16th-century births Year of birth unknown 1634 deaths Royal Navy officers People from the Vale of Glamorgan Welsh explorers British explorers of the Arctic British explorers of North America Explorers of Canada 1610s in Canada 1612 in New France 1613 in New France British polar explorers Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)