James Hall (d. 1612) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

explorer. In

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, he was known as Jacob Hald. Born in Hull, he piloted three of King Christian IV's Expeditions to Greenland under John Cunningham (1605),

Godske Lindenov Godske Christoffersen Lindenov or Lindenow (d. 1612 Copenhagen) was a Denmark, Danish naval officer and Arctic explorer. He was a commander on one of King Christian IV's expeditions to Greenland. Early life He was of the noble family Lindenov of L ...

(1606), and Carsten Richardson (1607). In his first voyage he charted the west coast of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

as far north as 68° 35' N. The discovery of

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

resulted in larger expeditions being sent the following two years, both of which were expensive failures. In 1612 Hall again went to Greenland, this time in search of the

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

. He had two English ships under his command, the 140-ton ''Patience'' and the 60-ton ''Heart's-Ease''.Also spelled ''Harts-ease'' in Baffin's account.

William Baffin William Baffin ( – 23 January 1622) was an English navigator, explorer and cartographer. He is primarily known for his attempt to find a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, during the course of which he was the first Euro ...

served as his chief pilot. On 12 or 22 July, he encountered

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

in Amerdloq Fjord. Angry over the seizure of several Inuit by Cunningham in 1605, one of them struck Hall with a spear; he died the following day.

References

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External links

Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, James Explorers of the Arctic English explorers 17th-century explorers Year of birth missing 16th-century births 1612 deaths 17th-century English people History of the Arctic People from Kingston upon Hull