George Dixon (Royal Navy officer)

George Dixon (1748 – 11 November 1795) was a British sea captain, explorer, and maritime fur trader active in the North Pacific in the late 18th century. He was born in Leath Ward area and came from the village of Kirkoswald. The son of Thomas Dixon, he was baptised in Kirkoswald on 8 July 1748.

He served in the Royal Navy during Captain James Cook's third voyage and later took part in early British commercial expeditions to the north-west coast of North America. From 1785 to 1788, Dixon commanded the Queen Charlotte for the King George’s Sound Company, trading and exploring along the coasts of present-day British Columbia, southeastern Alaska, and Hawai'i. He was among the first Europeans to identify Haida Gwaii as an island group and contributed to the early maritime fur trade linking the Pacific Northwest with China and Britain. After returning to England, he published an account of his voyage and became involved in disputes over exploration claims and British settlement plans. He later settled in Bermuda, where he died in 1795.