Joseph Billings

From 1790 to 1794 he commanded a marine expedition that searched for a Northeast Passage and explored the coasts of Alaska and Siberia.

Parish church registers confirm his birth on 6 September 1758, the son of Thomas and Mary Billing.

However, according to Russian sources, Billings told associates he was born in Yarmouth, the son of a fisherman of the same name.

The expedition explored the North Pacific, visiting Nootka Sound, Alaska, the Bering Sea, and the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east coast of Russia.

[4] Captains Robert Hall [ru], Gavril Sarychev, and Christian Bering had leading roles.

Accurate maps were made of the Chukchi Peninsula in Eastern Siberia, the west coast of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands.

Additionally, the expedition compiled a census of the native population of the Aleutian Islands and reported to the crown stories of abuse by the Russian fur traders (promyshlenniki).

Map of the northeastern part of Siberia, of the Arctic Sea, of the Pacific Ocean, and of the northwestern coast of America with the route of the ships under Captain Billings' command. (1806)