Capt Vancouver, Lynn's most famous son, and second only in the county to another seafaring legend, Nelson, willingly set off on a map-making voyage into unchartered and lethal waters which would last an amazing five years and cover a total of 75,000 miles - still the longest survey voyage in history.
A meticulous cartographer, his charts were so accurate that they were in continuous use until about 20 years ago, when satellite mapping became economic. He confirmed the non-existence of a North West passage between the north Pacific and north Atlantic oceans and changed the geography of the North West coast of America, helping to open it up to trade, and lending his name to the modern and vibrant city of Vancouver. Additionally he named other landfalls after places familiar to him and borrowed from his own West Norfolk area.
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Capt. George Vancouver the Lynn News has published a seven page supplement which you can download/read below in PDF format. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view each of the pages)
- Vancouver Special (1 of 7)
- 3.6MB
- Vancouver Special (2 of 7)
- 1.4MB
- Vancouver Special (3 of 7)
- 794KB
- Vancouver Special (4 of 7)
- 1.4MB
- Vancouver Special (5 of 7)
- 1MB
- Vancouver Special (6 of 7)
- 1.5MB
- Vancouver Special (7 of 7)
- 611KB