“How frigid zones reward the advent’rers toils”: natural history writing and the British imagination in the making of Hudson Bay, 1741-1752
During the 1740’s, Hudson Bay went from an obscure backwater of the British Empire to a locus of colonial ambition. Arthur Dobbs revitalized Northwest Passage exploration, generating new information about the region’s environment and indigenous peoples. This study explores evolving English and Briti...
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ftuvicpubl:oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/2023 2023-05-15T14:52:33+02:00 “How frigid zones reward the advent’rers toils”: natural history writing and the British imagination in the making of Hudson Bay, 1741-1752 Melchin, Nicholas Vibert, Elizabeth McKenzie, Andrea Katherine 2009 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2023 English en eng http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2023 Available to the World Wide Web Exploration Dobbs North Eighteenth century Arctic Landscape Canada Inuit Cree Indian Indigenous Subarctic Tree Forest Colonial Northwest Passage Ellis Swaine Drage Robson Middleton Oldmixon Cold Hudson Strait Hudson's Bay Company Representation Sub-arctic English Britain England Empire Climate Improvement Colonization Discourse Identity 1740 1750 UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::History::Canada--History Thesis 2009 ftuvicpubl 2022-05-19T06:11:58Z During the 1740’s, Hudson Bay went from an obscure backwater of the British Empire to a locus of colonial ambition. Arthur Dobbs revitalized Northwest Passage exploration, generating new information about the region’s environment and indigenous peoples. This study explores evolving English and British representations of Hudson Bay’s climate and landscape in travel and natural history writing, and probes British anxieties about foreign environments. I demonstrate how Dobbs’ ideology of improvement optimistically re-imagined the North, opening a new discursive space wherein the Subarctic could be favourably described and colonized. I examine how Hudson Bay explorers’ responses to difficulties in the Arctic and Subarctic were seen to embody, even amplify, central principles and features of eighteenth-century British culture and identity. Finally, I investigate how latitude served as a benchmark for civilization and savagery, subjugating the Lowland Cree and Inuit to British visions of settlement and improvement in their home territories. Thesis Arctic Hudson Bay Hudson Strait inuit Northwest passage Subarctic University of Victoria (Canada): UVicDSpace Arctic Canada Drage ENVELOPE(7.900,7.900,63.017,63.017) Hudson Hudson Bay Hudson Strait ENVELOPE(-70.000,-70.000,62.000,62.000) Indian Northwest Passage |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Victoria (Canada): UVicDSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftuvicpubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Exploration Dobbs North Eighteenth century Arctic Landscape Canada Inuit Cree Indian Indigenous Subarctic Tree Forest Colonial Northwest Passage Ellis Swaine Drage Robson Middleton Oldmixon Cold Hudson Strait Hudson's Bay Company Representation Sub-arctic English Britain England Empire Climate Improvement Colonization Discourse Identity 1740 1750 UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::History::Canada--History |
spellingShingle |
Exploration Dobbs North Eighteenth century Arctic Landscape Canada Inuit Cree Indian Indigenous Subarctic Tree Forest Colonial Northwest Passage Ellis Swaine Drage Robson Middleton Oldmixon Cold Hudson Strait Hudson's Bay Company Representation Sub-arctic English Britain England Empire Climate Improvement Colonization Discourse Identity 1740 1750 UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::History::Canada--History Melchin, Nicholas “How frigid zones reward the advent’rers toils”: natural history writing and the British imagination in the making of Hudson Bay, 1741-1752 |
topic_facet |
Exploration Dobbs North Eighteenth century Arctic Landscape Canada Inuit Cree Indian Indigenous Subarctic Tree Forest Colonial Northwest Passage Ellis Swaine Drage Robson Middleton Oldmixon Cold Hudson Strait Hudson's Bay Company Representation Sub-arctic English Britain England Empire Climate Improvement Colonization Discourse Identity 1740 1750 UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::History::Canada--History |
description |
During the 1740’s, Hudson Bay went from an obscure backwater of the British Empire to a locus of colonial ambition. Arthur Dobbs revitalized Northwest Passage exploration, generating new information about the region’s environment and indigenous peoples. This study explores evolving English and British representations of Hudson Bay’s climate and landscape in travel and natural history writing, and probes British anxieties about foreign environments. I demonstrate how Dobbs’ ideology of improvement optimistically re-imagined the North, opening a new discursive space wherein the Subarctic could be favourably described and colonized. I examine how Hudson Bay explorers’ responses to difficulties in the Arctic and Subarctic were seen to embody, even amplify, central principles and features of eighteenth-century British culture and identity. Finally, I investigate how latitude served as a benchmark for civilization and savagery, subjugating the Lowland Cree and Inuit to British visions of settlement and improvement in their home territories. |
author2 |
Vibert, Elizabeth McKenzie, Andrea Katherine |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Melchin, Nicholas |
author_facet |
Melchin, Nicholas |
author_sort |
Melchin, Nicholas |
title |
“How frigid zones reward the advent’rers toils”: natural history writing and the British imagination in the making of Hudson Bay, 1741-1752 |
title_short |
“How frigid zones reward the advent’rers toils”: natural history writing and the British imagination in the making of Hudson Bay, 1741-1752 |
title_full |
“How frigid zones reward the advent’rers toils”: natural history writing and the British imagination in the making of Hudson Bay, 1741-1752 |
title_fullStr |
“How frigid zones reward the advent’rers toils”: natural history writing and the British imagination in the making of Hudson Bay, 1741-1752 |
title_full_unstemmed |
“How frigid zones reward the advent’rers toils”: natural history writing and the British imagination in the making of Hudson Bay, 1741-1752 |
title_sort |
“how frigid zones reward the advent’rers toils”: natural history writing and the british imagination in the making of hudson bay, 1741-1752 |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2023 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(7.900,7.900,63.017,63.017) ENVELOPE(-70.000,-70.000,62.000,62.000) |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Drage Hudson Hudson Bay Hudson Strait Indian Northwest Passage |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Drage Hudson Hudson Bay Hudson Strait Indian Northwest Passage |
genre |
Arctic Hudson Bay Hudson Strait inuit Northwest passage Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic Hudson Bay Hudson Strait inuit Northwest passage Subarctic |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2023 |
op_rights |
Available to the World Wide Web |
_version_ |
1766323784027996160 |