Charles William Barkley
Encyclopedia
Charles William Barkley (1759 – 16 May 1832) was a ship captain and maritime fur trade
r. He was born in Hertford
, England
, son of Charles Barkley.
His name is sometimes erroneously spelled Barclay due to the misspelling "Barclay Sound" (in what is now British Columbia
) on early Admiralty charts, which arose from a mistake from Land District records. The misspelling originated in 1859 with the government agent William Eddy Banfield who issued certificates identifying the "Barclay Land District." The name was corrected to Barkley Sound
in 1904.
ship Pacific. His father drowned in the Hooghly river, Calcutta, India while Charles was still a boy. Charles went on to sail to the West Indies in the merchantman Bestsy. He made seven voyages to the Far East for the East India Company and rose rapidly in the company's service.
He was married in 1786, he soon after left the East India Company, taking what was apparently his first command, the 400-ton ship Loundon, ready for a trading voyage to the Pacific Northwest
coast of North America. The ship, which was renamed Imperial Eagle
and falsely registered as an Austrian
in an attempt to avoid the cost of acquiring a trading license from the East India Company, was owned by various supercargo
es, including several East India Company directions in England, who together called themselves the Austrian East India Company. Barkley was among the backers, subscribing £3,000 to the venture. John Meares
, who was also attempting to avoid license fees by falsely sailing under the Portuguese flag, was also one of the backers.
on November 24, 1786. They stopped in the Hawaiian Islands
where a maidservant named Winée was taken aboard. Winée became the first Native Hawaiian, or "Kanaka", to reach British Columbia
. From Hawaii Barkley sailed the Imperial Eagle to Nootka Sound
, on the west coast of Vancouver Island
, arriving on in June 1787. At 400 tons, the Imperial Eagle was the largest ship to ever enter the main harbor of Friendly Cove in Nootka Sound. Barkley stayed at Nootka Sound for about a month, acquired 700 prime skins, and many more of inferior quality. From Nootka he sailed south, trading, exploring, and naming various parts of the coast between Nootka Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca
, including Barkley Sound
, Loudoun Channel, Cape Beale, and Imperial Eagle Channel. In honour of the indigenous chief Wickaninnish
Barkley gave the name Wickinninish Sound to what is now called Clayoquot Sound
. He rediscovered the strait allegedly described by Juan de Fuca
and named the strait as such on his chart. Barkley's Imperial Eagle was the first non-indigenous vessel to enter Neah Bay
, in July 1787. John Meares
, in the Feliz Aventureira, stopped at Neah Bay in June 1788, and Charles Duncan in the Princess Royal
did so in August 1788. Robert Gray, in the Lady Washington, entered Neah Bay in April 1789, and in July 1789 José María Narváez did so in the Santa Gertrudis la Magna. Within the next few years a number of others visited Neah Bay and it became an important fur trading stop during the maritime fur trading era.
After six members of his crew were killed by indigenous people, on 24 July 1787, near the mouth of the Hoh River
, Barkley decided to set sail for Guangzhou
(Canton), China
, to sell his sea otter pelts. He arrived in Macau
in December 1787. His trading venture resulted in a profit of £10,000. Barkley gave the name Destruction River to what is now called the Hoh River, after his crew members were killed by the indigenous people. The name has since been transferred to nearby Destruction Island.
He then left China and sailed with a cargo to Mauritius
. While in Mauritius Barkley learned that the East India Company was taking legal action against the owners of the Imperial Eagle for trading without a license. The owners, including John Meares
, decided to avoid the legal problems by selling the Imperial Eagle and breaking their contract with Barkley. Charles and Frances Barkley stayed in Mauritius for over a year, where they had their first child. They then sailed to Kolkata
(Calcutta), India, where the Imperial Eagle was confiscated. Barkley sued for damages and received £5,000 for the loss of his ten-year contract. At the same time John Meares gained possession of Barkley's nautical gear and his journal. Frances Barkley later wrote that Meares, "with the greatest effrontery, published and claimed the merit of my husband's discoveries therein contained, besides inventing lies of the most revolting nature tending to vilify the person he thus pilfered."
Barkley continued his merchant captain career. He commanded the Princess Frederica, sailing in the Indian Ocean into 1791. Then he returned to the Pacific Northwest coast, in command of the 80-ton brig
Halcyon. He traded for sea otter pelts in Sitka Sound
, then sailed to the Hawaiian Islands
, China, and Mauritius.
Little is known of his latter years. They were probably not prosperous. Upon his death at the age of 73 he left two sons and two daughters, and was survived by his wife Frances.
Maritime Fur Trade
The Maritime Fur Trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese...
r. He was born in Hertford
Hertford
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, son of Charles Barkley.
His name is sometimes erroneously spelled Barclay due to the misspelling "Barclay Sound" (in what is now British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
) on early Admiralty charts, which arose from a mistake from Land District records. The misspelling originated in 1859 with the government agent William Eddy Banfield who issued certificates identifying the "Barclay Land District." The name was corrected to Barkley Sound
Barkley Sound
Barkley Sound, also known historically as Barclay Sound, is south of Ucluelet and north of Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver Island and forms the entrance to the Alberni Inlet...
in 1904.
Early life
At the age of 11 Charles Barkley went to sea with his father, who was the commander of the East India CompanyEast India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
ship Pacific. His father drowned in the Hooghly river, Calcutta, India while Charles was still a boy. Charles went on to sail to the West Indies in the merchantman Bestsy. He made seven voyages to the Far East for the East India Company and rose rapidly in the company's service.
He was married in 1786, he soon after left the East India Company, taking what was apparently his first command, the 400-ton ship Loundon, ready for a trading voyage to the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
coast of North America. The ship, which was renamed Imperial Eagle
Imperial Eagle (ship)
The Imperial Eagle was a 400 ton burthen British merchant ship that sailed on maritime fur trading ventures in the late 1780s. It was under the command of Captain Charles William Barkley until confiscated in India. The ship, Loudoun, was a decommissioned East Indiaman...
and falsely registered as an Austrian
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
in an attempt to avoid the cost of acquiring a trading license from the East India Company, was owned by various supercargo
Supercargo
Supercargo is a term in maritime law that refers to a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on the ship...
es, including several East India Company directions in England, who together called themselves the Austrian East India Company. Barkley was among the backers, subscribing £3,000 to the venture. John Meares
John Meares
John Meares was a navigator, explorer, and maritime fur trader, best known for his role in the Nootka Crisis, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war.- Career :...
, who was also attempting to avoid license fees by falsely sailing under the Portuguese flag, was also one of the backers.
Merchant career
Barkley and his wife, Frances Barkley, left for the Pacific via Cape HornCape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
on November 24, 1786. They stopped in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
where a maidservant named Winée was taken aboard. Winée became the first Native Hawaiian, or "Kanaka", to reach British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. From Hawaii Barkley sailed the Imperial Eagle to Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound is a complex inlet or sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Historically also known as King George's Sound, as a strait it separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island.-History:The inlet is part of the...
, on the west coast of Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
, arriving on in June 1787. At 400 tons, the Imperial Eagle was the largest ship to ever enter the main harbor of Friendly Cove in Nootka Sound. Barkley stayed at Nootka Sound for about a month, acquired 700 prime skins, and many more of inferior quality. From Nootka he sailed south, trading, exploring, and naming various parts of the coast between Nootka Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
, including Barkley Sound
Barkley Sound
Barkley Sound, also known historically as Barclay Sound, is south of Ucluelet and north of Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver Island and forms the entrance to the Alberni Inlet...
, Loudoun Channel, Cape Beale, and Imperial Eagle Channel. In honour of the indigenous chief Wickaninnish
Wickaninnish
Wickaninnish was a chief of the Tla-o-qui-aht people of Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada during the opening period of European contact with the Pacific Northwest Coast cultures in the 1780s and 1790s...
Barkley gave the name Wickinninish Sound to what is now called Clayoquot Sound
Clayoquot Sound
Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is bordered by the Esowista Peninsula to the south, and the Hesquiaht Peninsula to the North. It is a body of water with many inlets and islands. Major inlets include Sydney Inlet,...
. He rediscovered the strait allegedly described by Juan de Fuca
Juan de Fuca
Ioánnis Fokás , better known by the Spanish transcription of his name, Juan de Fuca , was a Greek-born maritime pilot in the service of the king of Spain, Philip II...
and named the strait as such on his chart. Barkley's Imperial Eagle was the first non-indigenous vessel to enter Neah Bay
Neah Bay, Washington
Neah Bay is a census-designated place on the Makah Indian reservation in Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 794 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Neah Bay is located at ....
, in July 1787. John Meares
John Meares
John Meares was a navigator, explorer, and maritime fur trader, best known for his role in the Nootka Crisis, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war.- Career :...
, in the Feliz Aventureira, stopped at Neah Bay in June 1788, and Charles Duncan in the Princess Royal
Princess Royal (sloop)
Princess Royal was a British merchant ship that sailed on fur trading ventures in the late 1780s, and was captured at Nootka Sound by Esteban José Martínez of Spain during the Nootka Crisis of 1789...
did so in August 1788. Robert Gray, in the Lady Washington, entered Neah Bay in April 1789, and in July 1789 José María Narváez did so in the Santa Gertrudis la Magna. Within the next few years a number of others visited Neah Bay and it became an important fur trading stop during the maritime fur trading era.
After six members of his crew were killed by indigenous people, on 24 July 1787, near the mouth of the Hoh River
Hoh River
The Hoh River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington, located on the Olympic Peninsula. About long, the Hoh River originates at the Hoh Glacier on Mount Olympus and flows west through the Olympic Mountains of Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest, then through the foothills in a...
, Barkley decided to set sail for Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
(Canton), China
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
, to sell his sea otter pelts. He arrived in Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
in December 1787. His trading venture resulted in a profit of £10,000. Barkley gave the name Destruction River to what is now called the Hoh River, after his crew members were killed by the indigenous people. The name has since been transferred to nearby Destruction Island.
He then left China and sailed with a cargo to Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
. While in Mauritius Barkley learned that the East India Company was taking legal action against the owners of the Imperial Eagle for trading without a license. The owners, including John Meares
John Meares
John Meares was a navigator, explorer, and maritime fur trader, best known for his role in the Nootka Crisis, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war.- Career :...
, decided to avoid the legal problems by selling the Imperial Eagle and breaking their contract with Barkley. Charles and Frances Barkley stayed in Mauritius for over a year, where they had their first child. They then sailed to Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
(Calcutta), India, where the Imperial Eagle was confiscated. Barkley sued for damages and received £5,000 for the loss of his ten-year contract. At the same time John Meares gained possession of Barkley's nautical gear and his journal. Frances Barkley later wrote that Meares, "with the greatest effrontery, published and claimed the merit of my husband's discoveries therein contained, besides inventing lies of the most revolting nature tending to vilify the person he thus pilfered."
Later years
After this series of events Charles and Frances Barkley found themselves stranded in Mauritius, without a ship and burdened with a newborn. Over the course of two years they managed to make their way to the Netherlands, then England.Barkley continued his merchant captain career. He commanded the Princess Frederica, sailing in the Indian Ocean into 1791. Then he returned to the Pacific Northwest coast, in command of the 80-ton brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Halcyon. He traded for sea otter pelts in Sitka Sound
Sitka Sound
Sitka Sound is a body of water near the city of Sitka, Alaska. It is bordered by Baranof Island to the south and the northeast, by Kruzof Island to the northwest and by the Pacific Ocean to the southwest...
, then sailed to the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, China, and Mauritius.
Little is known of his latter years. They were probably not prosperous. Upon his death at the age of 73 he left two sons and two daughters, and was survived by his wife Frances.
Legacy
- Barkley SoundBarkley SoundBarkley Sound, also known historically as Barclay Sound, is south of Ucluelet and north of Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver Island and forms the entrance to the Alberni Inlet...
between Ucluelet and Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver IslandVancouver IslandVancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
is named for him.