Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe

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Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe (c. 1771 – March 16, 1790) was an American maritime fur trader and the son of Simon Metcalfe. In 1789 he sailed the small 26-ton schooner Fair American, with a crew of four, from Macau to trade for sea otter furs and, later, tea. His father’s larger ship, the Eleanora, traveled separately.

A storm split the two ships, leaving Thomas to navigate the Fair American on his own. With a broken compass and only a Cook map for guidance, he headed north along the Pacific, visiting Russian, Tlingit, and Haida trading posts before reaching Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island. The Spanish commander Esteban José Martínez seized the Fair American and arrested Thomas and his crew, but they were eventually moved toward San Blas, Mexico. After several months in custody, the ship and crew were released and Thomas continued toward Hawaii in hopes of rejoining his father.

Meanwhile, Simon Metcalfe had reached Hawaii first and traded there, but an incident with a Hawaiian chief, Kameʻeiamoku, led to a vow of revenge against the next foreign ship. The Olowalu Massacre earlier on Maui, prompted by Simon’s earlier actions, set the stage for further tensions in the islands.

In early 1790, the Fair American arrived at Kawaihae Bay, Hawaii. On March 16, 1790, Kameʻeiamoku’s men captured the Fair American and killed Thomas Metcalfe and his four sailors. The only survivor, Isaac Davis, was wounded but spared. The ship and its cargo were taken, and later given to King Kamehameha I. No one at the time knew that the captain of the Fair American was Thomas Metcalfe, the son of Simon Metcalfe.

Thomas’s death, linked to the larger chain of events between European and Hawaiian interests, is part of a turning point in Hawaiian history. John Young and Isaac Davis, who were aboard the Fair American’ s aftermath, later became key translators and advisers to Kamehameha I, helping him unite the islands. Thomas Metcalfe’s short life is mainly remembered for this perilous voyage and his young death at the hands of those seeking revenge for earlier actions. His father Simon continued trading for a few more years before his own death in 1794 at the hands of Haida.