George Best (chronicler)

George Best (1555–1584) was a member of the second and third Martin Frobisher voyages in positions of importance; as Frobisher's lieutenant on the second and as captain of the Anne Francis on the third.[1] In 1578 he published A True Discourse of the Late Voyages of Discoverie.[2]

Life

He was the son of Robert Best, an interpreter for the Muscovy Company, and Anne Bowman, and the brother of the sea captain Thomas Best, and Henry who may have been involved in works based on the True Discourse.[1][3] Sir Christopher Hatton as backer nominated Best to take part in one of the Frobisher voyages.[4]

Best was killed in a duel with Oliver St. John, later Lord Deputy of Ireland, around March 1584. The precise motive for the duel is unclear, but it was most likely provoked by the bad-tempered St. John, who called himself "the child of wrath".[5]

Works

The True Discourse[2] discussed the First Frobisher Voyage, in which Best did not participate, as well as the other two (1577 and 1578) where he was an eye-witness.[6] It appeared in the exploration collection of Richard Hakluyt.[7] Later, in reprinting the material, Hakluyt removed some passages, in particular one suggesting that the aim of the exploration was prospecting for minerals, rather than the North-West Passage.[1]

Notes
  1. Baldwin, R.C.D. "Best, George". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2289. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. Best, George (1578). A true discourse of the late voyages of discoverie: For findig of a passage to Cathaya. Bynnyman.
  3. Baldwin, R.C.D. "Best, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2293. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. MacCaffrey, Wallace T. "Hatton, Sir Christopher". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12605. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "St. John, Oliver (1559-1630)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 50. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  6. Mancall, Peter C. (March 2010). Hakluyt's Promise: An Elizabethan's obsession for an English America. Yale University Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-300-16422-0.
  7. Fuller, Mary C. (12 May 2008). Remembering the Early Modern Voyage. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-230-61189-4.
  • Cooke, Alan (1979) [1966]. "Best, George" (biography). Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Online ed.). Toronto, CA: University of Toronto. Retrieved 24 November 2022.


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