Letter: Hudson howlers

Sir: David Whiting, in his account of the church of St Ethelburga-the- Virgin (5 May), achieves a remarkable record: three scholarly howlers in one short paragraph. He describes Hugh Hudson taking Communion in the church before setting out for the great Canadian river that bears his name, where his crew mutinied and set him adrift to die.

Henry, not Hugh, Hudson set out for his last voyage to Hudson Bay, not the river that also bears his name. The river is not Canadian; it lies within New York state.

Yours truly,

ALICE H. BIRD

Turville Heath, Buckinghamshire