Capt. Robert D. Foote

Franklin, the intrepid Arctic explorer, is a man whom posterity are not likely to forget, but Captain R. D. Foote has better cause than have the majority to remember him, for his uncle was an officer on one of the vessels which went in search of Franklin, and Capt. Foote has several relics of the trip. His great-grandfather was a noted mariner, and Capt. Foote carries his progenitor's parallel rule to this day, being always pleased to exhibit it to curious friends.

Comparatively, as mariners live, Capt. Foote is yet a young man, being in only his 47th year. He was born at Fergus, Ontario, in May 1851, and in the schools of that place he was well educated. When he was seventeen years of age, in May 1868, he went to Owen Sound and shipped before the mast in a schooner trading on the upper lakes, called the Snow Bird, of Spanish River. For thirteen years he was in different sailing vessels in both Canada and the United States. Among the vessels which he sailed were the schooner Queen of the Lakes, the schooner Jessie Drummond, the New York, the Seymour, the steamer Northern Belle, the steamer Cuba, the steamer Wales, the steamer Atlantic, and now in the steamer Pacific, belonging to the Northern Transit Company at Collingwood.

For the last fifteen years he has been connected with the Northern Transit Company. Not once has he had an accident or mishap of any kind, and naturally he stands high in the esteem of his principals. The Captain was married at Fergus in February 1886, to a daughter of Mr. James MacQueen, the postmaster of that town.

Owen Sound Advertiser, April 27, 1876: Our Harbor : The William Seymour has had repairs done to boiler, hull and bulwarks. She has also had a new wheel and is being painted all over. She is to sail on Friday, weather and ice permitting. She sails on the old route same as last year. Capt. Foote, late of the Maple Leaf, commands her.

Weekly Leader, May 20, 1870: Collingwood, May 8 - A very gallant act has just been performed here. Charles Duffy, fisherman, while drawing in his nets, got entangled and fell overboard helpless. Seeing the man struggling in the water, Capt. Foote, of the Snowbird,A. M. Smith & Co., bravely dashed into the water, reached Duffy, and saved his life. This gallant act deserves to be recorded.

Return to Home Port

The entire file of the Globe and Mail and its predecessors is now online via subscription at Micromedia ProQuest