Joseph Billings

Joseph Billings (c.1758 – 1806) was an English navigator and explorer who spent the most significant part of his life in Russian service.

For the architect in Boston, Massachusetts, see Joseph Edward Billings.

Life

The Billings Expedition

In 1785, the Russian government of Catherine the Great commissioned a new expedition in search for the Northeast Passage, led by English officer Joseph Billings, who had previously sailed with Captain Cook, and the Russian officer Gavril Sarychev as his deputy and Carl Heinrich Merck as the expedition's naturalist.[1] This enterprise operated till 1795.

Though considered a failure by some scholars because the expenditures outweighed the results, it nevertheless had a substantial record of achievement. Accurate maps were made of the Chukchi Peninsula in Eastern Siberia, the west coast of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands. Members of the expedition landed on Kodiak Island and made an examination of the islands and mainlands of Prince William Sound. Additionally, the expedition compiled a census of the native population of the Aleutian Islands and reported to the crown stories of abuse by the Russian fur traders (promyshlenniki).[2]

End of life

After the Expedition, Joseph Billings remained with the Imperial Russian Navy, before retiring in 1797 and settling in Moscow.

Billings died in Moscow on 18 June 1806 at the age of 48 years.[3]

Legacy

Cape Billings in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug was named after him.

Billings Glacier on Passage Peak in Alaska was named after him in 1908.[4]

See also

References
  1. Jones, Ryan (2006). "Sea Otters and Savages in the Russian Empire: The Billings Expedition, 1785-1793". Journal for Maritime Research. 8 (1): 106–121. doi:10.1080/21533369.2006.9668358.
  2. Jones, Ryan (2006). "Sea Otters and Savages in the Russian Empire: The Billings Expedition, 1785-1793". Journal for Maritime Research. 8 (1): 106–121. doi:10.1080/21533369.2006.9668358.
  3. Nuttall, Mark (2012). Encyclopedia of the Arctic vols.1, 2 and 3 (A to Z). New York and London: Routledge, p.243. ISBN 978-1136786808.
  4. "Billings Glacier". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
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