Thomas Edge

Thomas Edge (b. 1587/88- d. 29 December 1624) was an English merchant, whaler, and sealer who worked for the Muscovy Company in the first quarter of the 17th century. Edge was born in the parish of Blackburn, Lancashire in 1587/88. His father was Ellis Edge. Edgeøya (Edge Island, which was rediscovered by English whalers in 1616) is named after him. He also had the eastern point of Recherchefjorden named after him, but it is now known as Lægerneset.

Working Life, 1609-1622

ealing, 1609-1610

In 1609 Edge served as supercargo of the "Paul" on a sealing voyage to Bear Island. In 1610 he again sailed to the island for sealing, this time as commander of the "Lioness".

Whaling, 1611-1622

In 1611, Edge was given command of two ships, the 150-ton ship "Mary Margaret" (which he sailed on as factor), and the 60-ton bark "Elizabeth", Jonas Poole, master and pilot, on a whaling voyage to Spitsbergen. Edge, in his "A Brief Discovery of the Northern Discoveries", which appeared in "Purchas His Pilgrimes" (1625), says the ships left Blackwall for Spitsbergen on April 20 (Poole says April 11) [ Purchas (1625). Edge and Poole's narratives often disagree on the dates of certain events. Given the fact Edge is often inaccurate, Poole is most likely right in these instances.] and arrived there on May 20.

On June 12 he says one of the six Basque whalemen recruited from the French town of St. Jean de Luz caught the first Bowhead Whale, "which yielded twelve Tuns of oil, being the first Oil that ever was made in Greenland." While hunting Walrus in or near English Bay (Engelskbukta) on June 28 or June 29, a "small quantity of Ice" came out of Foul Sound (Forlandsundet) and "put the Ship from her Mooring." Stephen Bennet, master of the "Mary Margaret", along with ten other men, was aboard the ship at the time. They lowered the sheet anchor to save the ship from being driven ashore, but "the Ice coming upon her again, brought her Anchor home and ran the Ship ashore." With the ship lost, Edge ordered the ship's boat and their four shallops made ready for sea. The boats were loaded with what provisions they could carry, and the men (totalling nearly fifty) left Forlandsundet on July 15 and sailed south.

One of the shallops and the ship's boat "lost company" with the other three boats while off Horn Sound. Here they met the "Hopewell", of Hull, under Thomas Marmaduke, who, after hearing £1,500 worth of goods had been put ashore where the "Mary Margaret" had been lost, allowed the men to led him to the place to retrieve said goods, as well as to hunt Walrus.

On July 29, after having rowed and sailed for two weeks, the three boats landed on the south side of Bear Island. Edge sent three men to see if Poole and the "Elizabeth" where on the north side of the island. Here they found him. Poole sailed to the south side of the island, picked up the rest of the men, and sailed for Forlandsundet. Edge says they arrived at Forlandsundet on August 14, where they found the other two boats' crews as well as Marmaduke. In attempting to transfer the goods of the" Mary Margaret" unto the "Elizabeth", Poole allowed his ship to capsize, forcing them to freight themselves and what goods survived on the "Hopewell". They arrived at Hull on September 6, where Edge shipped their goods to London.

In 1612, Edge sailed to Spitsbergen as master of the "Sea Horse". From 1613 to 1622 Edge served either as commander or co-commander of the English whaling fleet (except for 1620, when others served as such). He appears to have spent several of these seasons aboard ships that anchored in Bell Sound (Bellsund), the principal area for English whaling. In 1620, in order to cover debts, the Muscovy Company handed over the whaling side to four members of the company, one being Edge.

ocial Life

On January 31, 1613-14 Edge married Bridget Poyntell, spinster and daughter of Richard Poyntell, of the parish of St. Botolph, Billingsgate, at the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. In November 1623 Edge, now of London, purchased the Manor of Bulsnape, in the parish of Kirkham, Lancashire. In August 1624 he purchased the manor of Little Hoole, Lancaster.

Edge died on December 29, 1624. He was survived by his wife Bridget, who had a child at the time, his two sons, Richard and George, and two daughters, Bridget and Ellen.

Notes

References

*cite book |last=Conway |first=William Martin |title=Early Dutch and English Voyages to Spitsbergen in the Seventeenth Century |year= 1904|publisher=London
*cite book |last=Conway |first=William Martin |title=No Man's Land: A History of Spitsbergen from Its Discovery in 1596 to the Beginning of the Scientific Exploration of the Country |year=1906 |publisher=Cambridge, At the University Press
*Purchas, S. 1625. Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas His Pilgrimes: Contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Lande Travells by Englishmen and others. Volumes XIII and XIV (Reprint 1906, J. Maclehose and sons).