[2] He was the son of Robert Best, an interpreter for the Muscovy Company, and Anne Bowman, and the brother of the sea captain Thomas Best, and Henry who may have been involved in works based on the True Discourse.
[1][3] Sir Christopher Hatton as backer nominated Best to take part in one of the Frobisher voyages.
[4] Best was killed in a duel with Oliver St. John, later Lord Deputy of Ireland, around March 1584.
The precise motive for the duel is unclear, but it was most likely provoked by the bad-tempered St. John, who called himself "the child of wrath".
[5] The True Discourse[2] discussed the First Frobisher Voyage, in which Best did not participate, as well as the other two (1577 and 1578) where he was an eye-witness.