Cyprian Southack

A 1720 chart by Southack, depicting Casco Bay, Maine

Cyprian Southack (1662 - 27 March 1745) was an English cartographer and colonial naval commander. Born in London to a British Navy captain, he came to New England in the 1680s, where he established a reputation for his seamanship and his chart-making skills. The charts he made of the coast of northeastern North America were among the most accurate of their time. He engaged in privateering activities during King William's War in the 1690s, and was hired by the Province of Massachusetts Bay as captain of its armed vessel, the Province Galley. In that role he participated in several military actions during Queen Anne's War, including Benjamin Church's 1704 raids of Acadia, and the 1707 and 1710 Sieges of Port Royal. He was asked by Admiral Hovenden Walker to pilot his 1711 expedition to Quebec up the Saint Lawrence River, but refused, disclaiming detailed knowledge of that river. (Walker's expedition ended disastrously, suffering more than 800 deaths when parts of the fleet foundered on rocks near the mouth of the Saint Lawrence.)

After Queen Anne's War Southack continued in a variety of public service positions, including a seat on the council of Nova Scotia. He was active in the British fishery at Canso, Nova Scotia. In his later years he apparently lived in Boston, where he died in 1745.

References

• Chard, Donald. "Biography of Cyprian Southack". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=1661. Retrieved 2011-08-22.