George Berley was a Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 captain. He was in command of the HBC ship Albany with the James Knight expedition seeking the Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...

 in 1719.

Along with the ship Discovery, captained by David Vaughan

David Vaughan (HBC captain)

David Vaughan was a Hudson's Bay Company captain who sailed with George Berley under the overall command of the explorer James Knight on an ill-fated expedition to discover the Northwest Passage....

, the expedition set off from England in 1719. They were shipwrecked near Marble Island

Marble Island

Marble Island is one of several uninhabited Canadian arctic islands in Nunavut, Canada, located within western Hudson Bay. The closest community is Rankin Inlet. During the age of sail, this island was valued as a harbour for overwintering in the Arctic Ocean....

 and took refuge there in either 1719 or 1720. Everyone who came ashore there died. The remains of the settlement were not discovered until 1768 when Samuel Hearne

Samuel Hearne

Samuel Hearne was a an English explorer, fur-trader, author, and naturalist. He was the first European to make an overland excursion across northern Canada to the Arctic Ocean, actually Coronation Gulf, via the Coppermine River...

, a HBC explorer located them on the island.