born 0441; 1552, London, Eng.?
died Nov. 23, 1616, England
British geographer.
A clergyman, he gave public lectures and became the first professor of modern geography at the University of Oxford. He became acquainted with the most important sea captains and merchants of England and took on the role of publicist for explorers. In 1583 he was sent to Paris as chaplain to the English ambassador and also served as an intelligence officer, collecting information on the Canadian fur trade and on other overseas enterprises. His major publication, The principall Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English nation (1589), described the early English voyages to North America. After 1600 he advised Elizabeth I on colonial affairs, and in 1612 he became a charter member of the Northwest Passage Company.