W. E. (William Eppes) Cormack

Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on May 5, 1796, William Eppes Cormack was the son of a merchant family with Scottish roots. After his father’s death, he was educated in Scotland, including study at the University of Edinburgh, before returning to Newfoundland in the early 1820s.

Cormack is most famous for his 1822 journey across the largely unmapped interior of Newfoundland, traveling with the Mi’kmaq guide Joseph Sylvester. The expedition made him the first person of European descent known to have crossed the island’s interior, and his published account helped expand knowledge of Newfoundland’s landscape, plants, and wildlife.

He is also remembered for his efforts to learn about and preserve knowledge of the Beothuk people. In 1827 he founded the Boeothick Institution, and later gathered important information from Shanawdithit, the last known Beothuk woman. Cormack spent later years in several parts of North America and died in New Westminster, British Columbia, on April 30, 1868.