doing canadianhistory n.0

Hi, great to meet you Brian!

As far as I know, no Fowler was captaining an HBC ship until 1744. That year a John Fowler took the Seahorse [I] out to the Bay. According to Oliver Fuller, “The Mariners at Sloop’s Cove,” The Beaver, http://www.historysociety.ca/media/pdf/43-1-963-Sum-p44-53.pdf , he was sent in the Seahorse to “strengthen the defences at York and Churchill.” (there is more on that in E.E. Rich, James Isham’s observations on Hudsons Bay, 1743 [Champlain Society 1949] available at http://bit.ly/aR9Mwv).

The primary record I relied on for the ships of the 1740s was the ‘Book of Ships’ Movements,’ kept by the Company and listing ships with their captains. It doesn’t mention Capt. Jonathan Fowler until 1744 when he was in command of the Hudson’s Bay [V]. According to that record John and Jonathan Fowler were two different master mariners.

It is clear from the Seahorse logs that Jonathan Fowler Sr. was captain of that ship for a number of years beginning 1751. There are no ships’ logs surviving prior to 1751 — a gap which is reflected in Jonathan Fowler Sr.s’ HBC biographical sheet (which you may have seen already, if not it’s available from the HBC Archives at http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/f/fowler_jonathan-sr.pdf and Capt. Jonathan Fowler Jr.s’ is at http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/f/fowler_jonathan-jr.pdf ).

I have not yet found archival info. on what Fowler Sr. was doing prior to 1744. Quite possibly he had been sailing on HBC ships for years as sailor or mate before making captain, but I haven’t made any solid links to any other bio info.

As for the ship itself, Michael Dove describes the drawing/watercolour showing the Seahorse [II] done by John Hood (http://bit.ly/amkdB4) — the image is available at http://www.nmm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/on-display/atlantic-worlds/gallery/?item=174. There is a nice zoom function too, perhaps you can analyze it?

All Hudson’s Bay Company ships were relatively small and of shallow draught because (with the possible exception of Churchill), it was impossible to approach the shore otherwise — Hudson Bay is shallow. I have come across a number of sources that contradict one another when it comes to describing HBC ships. Often the problem is an author has confused two different vessels of the same name. While to the best of my knowledge the Seahorse [I] was described in HBC documents as a pink, the Seahorse [II] was described as a frigate. Another problem is mentions of ships in early records are none too precise — people were likely to call a vessel any number of different things depending on the fashion of nautical parlance of the time. So in fact very few specifics are known about HBC vessels, and whatever you come across will have to sifted against what you figure makes sense.

If you’re determined to hunt further, E.E. Rich, a historian who wrote The History of the Hudson’s Bay Company 1670-1870 (3 vols, 1960) is the guy to start with — check his index under ships in volume 1. And/or contact the HBC Archives and ask if there is an information sheet on the Seahorse (they have them for a number of vessels).

Happy hunting and writing — Norma

Hi Serena.

Unfortunately I know very little except that the Robert Taylor of 1812 was a chartered vessel — not owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company. I am not aware of any ship’s log for the vessel in the HBC archives. I do know John Davison has been identified as the captain. But if I come across anything else I’ll certainly let you know.

Norma