Captain James Colnett ( – 1 September 1806) was a Royal Navy officer, explorer and a fur trader. He served under James Cook during Cook's second voyage of exploration. Later he led two private trading expeditions that involved collecting sea otter pelts in the Pacific Northwest of North America and selling them in Canton, China, where the East India Company maintained a trading post. Wintering in the recently discovered Hawaiian Islands was a key component of the new trade system.

Colnett is remembered largely for his involvement in the Nootka Crisis of 1789—initially a dispute between British traders and the Spanish Navy over the use of Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island that became an international crisis that led Britain and Spain to the brink of war before being peacefully resolved through diplomacy and the signing of the Nootka Conventions.

Due to Colnett's central role in the initial incident that sparked the international crisis, Colnett's account of his second fur trading voyage, including the events at Nootka Sound in 1789, was published in 1940, as part of the Champlain Society's General Series. His first trading voyage journal remained unpublished until 2005.

Early life

Colnett was born in Devon at Devonport in 1753, and was baptised on 18 October at Stoke Damerel parish church, Plymouth. His parents were James and Sarah (née Lang) Colnett. He had two older sisters and one younger brother. Very little is known about his life until he joined the Royal Navy as an able-bodied seaman in 1770.

Colnett joined the Royal Navy in June 1770, initially serving as an able seaman aboard , and then aboard as a midshipman under Lieutenant James Cook from September until December 1771, when both Cook and Colnett moved to . Colnett served as a midshipman during Cook's second voyage to the Pacific Ocean between 1772 and 1775. After returning to England in 1775, Colnett continued to serve in the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence, being appointed gunner aboard on 1 January 1776 and then as master of . He rose in the ranks, passing his lieutenant's examination on 4 February 1779, and ten days later, on 14 February, he was appointed third lieutenant of .Voyage to the Northwest Side of America, p. 3 He was with Bienfaisant until 1783, when he joined as her first lieutenant. On 17 August 1786 he went on half pay as work for naval officers fell following the end of hostilities.

Between 1786 and 1791 Colnett led two private fur-trading ventures. With the Royal Navy's approval and a leave of absence he was first given command of a two-vessel fur trading expedition to the Pacific Northwest coast, Hawaii, and China. The vessels included and . Afterwards, a second expedition was organized with the Argonaut and the Princess Royal. The second expedition culminated in the Nootka Crisis. The first voyage was under the aegis of the London-based King George's Sound Company, first known as Richard Cadman Etches and Company, which owned the ships. The second was a joint venture of the King George's Sound Company and John Meares and his partners. Both companies were exploring the possibilities of collecting sea otter pelts along the Pacific Northwest coast, via trade with the indigenous peoples, and selling the goods in China. The idea had its origins in Cook's third voyage, during which sea otter pelts obtained along the northwest coast of America, from Nootka Sound northwards, were sold for high prices and great profit in Canton.A Voyage to the North West Side of America: The Journals of James Colnett, 1786–89 (book review) , Journal for Maritime Research

First fur trading voyage, 1786–1788 During the first fur-trading venture Colnett was in command of a two-vessel expedition. Colnett himself was captain of the 171-ton ship Prince of Wales. The second vessel was the 65-ton sloop , under Charles Duncan. The ships were owned by the King George's Sound Company, or Richard Cadman Etches and Company, and operated under licenses from the South Sea Company and the East India Company, which had a monopoly on British trade in the Pacific Ocean.The Journal of Captain James Colnett aboard the Argonaut, p. xxi The two ships left England on 23 September 1786, rounded Cape Horn, and reached the Pacific Northwest late in the summer of 1787. After trading for furs with the indigenous peoples in the vicinity of the Haida Gwaii archipelago, Aristazabal Island, and Banks Island, Colnett and Duncan sailed to the Hawaiian Islands where they spent the winter. While on the coast of present-day British Columbia they had a series of first contact encounters with some of the Kitkatla Tsimshian. In Hawaii they were involved in several violent conflicts with the islanders, including one at Waimea Bay, during which between five and fourteen Hawaiians were killed.Voyage to the Northwest Side of America, pp. 9, 11, 17, 62, 99, 263-264, 32

During his voyage, Colnett became the first European to see parts of southern Haida Gwaii. Juan Pérez had visited northern Haida Gwaii in 1774, but had not gone ashore. Colnett and his crew were among the first Europeans to set foot on the islands. They were also the first British explorers to contact the Tsimshian and southern Heiltsuk people.Colnett, James, ABCBookWorld

Although his primary focus was collecting sea otter pelts, Colnett explored the complex coastline in detail, apparently in hopes of finding the fabled Northwest Passage. His journal contains twelve maps of various channels, harbours, inlets, and other coastal features.

After spending the winter of 1787–88 in Hawaii, Colnett and Duncan returned to the Pacific Northwest to acquire more furs. Once on the coast they parted ways and operated separately, unlike the previous year when they remained in company. After trading through the summer Charles Duncan heading south for Nootka Sound. Before arriving he heard from fellow fur trader John Meares that Colnett was not at Nootka. Therefore, Duncan did not stop there but instead continued trading for furs south of Nootka Sound, in the vicinity of Clayoquot Sound and near the entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In August 1788 Duncan sailed the Princess Royal to Hawaii where he found Colnett and the Prince of Wales. Together they sailed to Canton, China, arriving in late November 1788. They sold their cargo of sea otter pelts. The Prince of Wales was taken back to England via the Cape of Good Hope, but James Colnett stayed in China. The Princess Royal also remained in order to carry out a second fur trading voyage starting the next year. Colnett was given command of another two-vessel expedition. The Argonaut sailed under Colnett, with the Princess Royal under Thomas Hudson.

Second fur trading voyage, 1789–1791 During the time of Colnett's first voyage two other British ships, owned by John Meares and his partners, were trading on the North West coast. Meares had chosen not to pay for licenses from the East India Company and South Sea Company, instead striving to conceal the ship's illegal conduct by using the Portuguese flag. During the winter of 1788–89 the owners of all four vessels decided to form a joint venture under the protection of the licenses, although the South Sea Company license applied only to the Prince of Wales and Princess Royal. The joint venture had no firm name; Meares called it variously "The Associated Merchants of London and India" or "The United Company of British Merchants Trading to the North West Coast of America". Colnett called it "The South Sea Company of London". It was loosely referred to as "this united Company". Colnett purchased a vessel at Macao, and named her Argonaut. She had a burthen of about 120 tons, and had been registered at Calcutta.

In early 1789 Colnett was given command of the joint undertaking as a whole. As captain of the Argonaut he gave over command of its tender, the Princess Royal, to Thomas Hudson. The goal of the joint venture was not just to send vessels to the North West coast but also to set up a permanent trading post at Nootka Sound, to be named Fort Pitt.The Journal of Captain James Colnett aboard the Argonaut, p. xxi–xxii, 17 Meares claimed he had purchased land there from Chief Maquinna of the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) people. The post could be built on Meares's land. Later, the question of whether Meares had actually acquired land from Maquinna became an issue of contention. Even if he had, there were unresolvable questions about the amount of land purchased and its location. In time Chief Maquinna denied that any such purchase had been made, saying instead that the Spanish had the only rightful claim to land at Nootka Sound. Meares, one of the primary forces behind the venture, hoped that a permanent post at Nootka Sound would establish his own dominance in the lucrative marine fur trade. However, before the British ships arrived, Spanish forces had already occupied the harbour and established their own fort. By the time Colnett's Argonaut arrived at Nootka Sound, the first phase of the crisis had already begun. The Spanish had taken control of the port and seized Captain Douglas and his ship.

Nootka Crisis

Background