Well, in a way it was motivated by greed; that is, trade routes to Asia. The search for a “North West Passage” (and other routes to Asia) was in part motivated by the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 since the trade fees charged by the Turks became exorbitant. Also, the Pope divided the world up between Spain and Portugal (Treaty of Tordesillas (sp?)) and kind of left England and the Dutch out. A couple of good histories:
“The Arctic Grail”, Pierre Berton
“The Search for the North West Passage”, Ann Savours.
Second Vote for Arctic Grail. Best book I’ve read about Franklin.
It was more than greed. It was British Pride. They HAD to be first. Same reason Scott went off like he did.
The money offered by the Royal Society wasn’t bad either.