Clarification of Answer by
answerfinder-ga
on
19 Feb 2003 02:40 PST
Dear mickeybear-ga
After I realised I had made the mistake of posting an answer instead
of a clarification I did some more research while awaiting your
comments. I still have not directly answered your question so please
still reject the answer if you are not satisfied.
The farthest back I can trace the name with certainty is pre-1774.
First, this extract (among many) confirms Drake sailed through the
straits:
"Having sailed through the Straits of Magellan, he was driven south by
a storm to about latitude 57 S. thus proving that Tierra del Fuego was
an island and not part of the great southern continent or Terra
Australis Incognita as it was becoming known. The smaller ships had
already left him, and during the storm he was separated from his only
remaining consort, the Elizabeth commanded by William Wynter, who
decided to return home when he could find no trace of Drake and the
Golden Hinde. The Golden Hinde thus entered the South Seas alone, but
as the Spanish settlements were unguarded, Drake made several
successful raids up the coast of South America. He sacked towns and
plundered shipping, his richest prize being the treasure ship
Cacafuego taken off Lima."
http://www.xroyvision.com.au/drake/admiral/Sir%20Francis%20Drake2.htm
I carried out extensive research at the Greenwich Maritime Museum web
site:
"Drake's voyage helped to give a more accurate picture of the true
geography of the world. During the course of the voyage, Drake
discovered that Tierra del Fuego, the land seen to the south of the
Magellan Strait, was not part of a southern continent as had been
believed previously, but an archipelago, or group of islands. Francis
Fletcher, the chaplain on Drake's ship described it like this:
In passing along we plainly discovered that same Terra Australis to be
no continent, but broken islands and large passages amongst them....
This meant that if the American continent was not connected to a
southern continent, the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans met at Cape
Horn. It should be possible to sail ships around the bottom of South
America, south of Tierra. This was the Cape Horn route, eventually
discovered in 1616."
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server.php?request=setTemplate:singlecontent&contentTypeA=conWebDoc&contentId=140&viewPage=2
The site has an extensive on-line database on which I searched for
Fortescue Bay and George Fortescue without success. However, if you
live in the UK I do recommend a visit to the musuem for it will
produce many maps and charts of the area which may help to date the
naming of the bay. There is an on-line facility to purchase images but
I did not test it.
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/
If not in the UK, your national maritime museum will have old maps and
charts of the area.
This web site deals with the re-tracing of Drake’s voyage in 1983 by
Michael Turner B. Ed (Hons). Interestingly no mention is made of
Fortescue Bay.
http://www.chantec.co.uk/in-drakes-wake/default.htm
I searched for old maps of the area on the web. There are several but
only one with enough detail. Published in Paris 1753 it does not seem
to show the name Fortescue Bay.
Click on an area to see a close up.
http://www.portsmouthbookshop.com/MapPage/MapPages551xx/55149mage.htm
This map was unclear
http://www.portsmouthbookshop.com/MapPage/MapPages506xx/50606mage.htm
Amsterdam Archeology Central carried out excavations at Chili/ Straat
Magalhães-Fortescue Baai in 1998 where the explorer Cordes
over-wintered in 1599. Unfortunately it does not assist with the
dating of the name.
http://www.frw.uva.nl/eura/ipp_expans.html
This is a article in Spanish from University of Amsterdam (translated
by Google) again discussing the Cordes expedition.
“When talking about to the pass by the Straits the narration indicates
that el 8 of April of 1599 the fleet in front of saturated the islands
Santa yMagdalena Marta, where the crews came to hunt near dosmil
pingüinos and some wolves of sea to supply itself of alimentos.
Continuaron navigation soon writing down numerous data on eldiseño of
the coasts, stopping also in bay Catherine, to hastafondear day 17 in
the bay of the peninsula of Brunswick, they quedenominaron "Groene
baai" (Green bay), that could be actual Fortescue or the one that
conserved for the posterity the name of the head dela expedition:
Cordes Bay. Page 4 Âllí was forced to hibernate suffering during
cuatromeses the well-known rigor of the austral climate, which cost
vidaa a total of 100 to 120 crew (when initiating the trip
flotaincluía 491 men).
http://www.revistamarina.cl/revistas/1993/2/hernanda.pdf
The name certainly dates before 1774.
http://www.gracegalleries.com/Capt-Cook_Listings.htm
Has the following map for sale “R. BENARD "Baye Et Havre De
Cordes/Port Gallant et Baye Fortescue/Baye de Wood/ Port Famine" Paris
1774. B/W. 4 charts on one sheet show harbors along the Straits of
Magellan. Anchorages, soundings, rocks & dangers. (1st French Ed. of
Cook's Voyages. 1st. voyage.)”
This reference to Captain Cook raises an interesting point. There is
also a Fortescue Bay in Tasmania. There are many references to it on
the internet but unfortunately no detail of the origin of its name.
Perhaps there may be a link to Captain Cook’s explorations? I could
find connection in my searches.
This is a book which refers to George Fortescue: Raymond John
Howgego’s Encyclopedia of Exploration to 1800: a comprehensive
reference guide to the history and literature of exploration, travel
and colonization from the earliest times to the year 1800
http://www.hordern.com/publications/explorers.htm
Encyclopedia of Exploration: persons mentioned (other than major
articles)
Fortescue George
http://www.hordern.com/publications/explorersNames.htm
I hope this research has assisted you in some way but I think the
answer may well lie in close examination of maps and charts to
identify the date the name first appeared.
Please ask for clarification of this research or if the links do not
work.
answerfinder-ga
Search strategy
Variations on Fortescue Bay Map Magellan Drake Cook Cordes
"fortescue bay"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22fortescue+bay%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Cordes Fortescue
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Cordes+Fortescue
magellan fortescue
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22magellan%22+fortescue
"magellan straits" map
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22magellan+straits%22+map
"fortescue bay" "named after"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22fortescue+bay%22+%22named+after%22
"magellan straits"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22magellan+straits%22&spell=1
