author
W. E. (William Eppes) Cormack
1796–1868
Best remembered for a remarkable 1822 trek across Newfoundland’s interior, this Scottish-born explorer wrote with curiosity, endurance, and a strong interest in the island’s geography and Indigenous history. His life also ranged through farming, philanthropy, and natural history.
1 Audiobook
Report of Mr. W. E. Cormack's journey in search of the Red Indians in Newfoundland
by W. E. (William Eppes) Cormack
About the author
Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in 1796, William Eppes Cormack was educated in Scotland and later became known as an explorer, writer, and naturalist. Reliable reference sources describe him as the first person of European descent to cross the interior of Newfoundland, a journey he made in 1822 while seeking knowledge of the island and hoping to make contact with the Beothuk.
Cormack’s writing is still remembered for its firsthand account of that expedition and for the light it sheds on Newfoundland in the early nineteenth century. Beyond exploration, he has also been described as a philanthropist and agriculturalist, with interests that reached well beyond travel alone.
He died in 1868 in New Westminster, British Columbia. Today, he remains an important figure in Canadian and Newfoundland history, especially for readers interested in exploration, landscape, and early historical records of the island.