Radisson and des Groseilliers had approached a group of businessmen in Boston, Massachusetts to help finance their explorations.

The Bostonians agreed on the plan's merits, and brought the two to England to elicit financing.

The English had in 1668 commissioned two ships, the Nonsuch and the Eaglet, to explore possible trade into Hudson Bay.

The Nonsuch is commanded by Captain Zachariah Gillam and accompanied by des Groseilliers, while the Eaglet is commanded by Captain William Stannard and accompanied by Radisson.

Both ships had left port on June 5, 1668, from Deptford, England, but the Eaglet had been forced to turn back off the coast of Ireland.

The Nonsuch, bypassing the land route from New France, continues on all the way to the southern portion of James Bay, where Fort Rupert is founded at the mouth of the Rupert River.

Both the fort and the river are named after the sponsor of the expedition, Prince Rupert of Bavaria.

After a successful trading expedition over the winter of 1668–9, the Nonsuch returns to England.