who may also have been a son of the alderman; of a Captain Thomas
Hudson, of Limehouse, who had a leading part in an expedition set
forth "into the parts of Persia and Media" by the Muscovy Company
in the years 1577-81; of a Thomas Hudson, of Mortlake, who was a
friend of Dr. John Dee, and to whom references frequently are made
in the famous "Diary" such as the following: "March 6 [1583]. I,
and Mr. Adrian Gilbert and John Davis did mete with Mr. Alderman
Barnes, Mr. Townson, and Mr. Young, and Mr. Hudson abowt the N.W.
voyage." Concerning a Christopher Hudson--who was in the service of
the Muscovy Company as its agent and factor at Moscow from about
the year 1553 until about the year 1576--the only certainty is that
he was not a son of the Alderman. There is a record of the year
1560 that "Christopher Hudson hath written to come home ...
considering the death of his father and mother"; and, as the
Alderman died in the year 1555, and as his remarried widow was
alive in the year 1560, this is conclusive. Being come back to
England, this Christopher rose to be a person of importance in the
Company; as appears from the fact that he was one of a committee
(circa 1583) appointed to confer with "Captain Chris. Carlile ...
upon his intended discoveries and attempt into the hithermost parts
of America."

[Illustration: APPARATUS FOR CORRECTING ERRORS OF THE COMPASS.
FROM "CERTAINE ERRORS IN NAVIGATION." LONDON, 1610]

General Read thus summarized the result of his investigations: "We
have learned that London was the residence of Henry Hudson the
elder, of Henry Hudson his son, and of Christopher Hudson, and that
Captain Thomas Hudson lived at Limehouse, now a part of the
Metropolis; while Thomas Hudson, the friend of Dr. John Dee,