Nonsuch (1650 ship)

HBC Nonsuch replica
History
England
NameNonsuch
Launched
  • 1650
  • 1970 (replica)
General characteristics
Length54 feet (16 m)
Draught6 feet (1.8 m)

Nonsuch was the ketch that sailed into Hudson Bay in 1668-1669 under Zachariah Gillam, in the first trading voyage for what was to become the Hudson's Bay Company two years later.[1] Originally built as a merchant ship in 1650, and later the Royal Navy ketch HMS Nonsuch, the vessel was sold to Sir William Warren in 1667. The name means "none such", i.e. "unequalled". The ship was at the time considered smaller than many others but was specifically selected because of her small size so that when she arrived in Hudson Bay and James Bay she could be sailed up-river and taken out of water so the thick ice of the bay wouldn't crush her.

  1. ^ Moriarty, G. Andrews. "Gillam, Zachariah". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. University of Toronto/Université Laval. Retrieved 17 February 2014.