In 1630, at about 10 years of age, Hudson was included in a mission to France. Although the principal purpose of the mission was to return with a midwife for the Queen's first pregnancy, it is likely that Hudson was sent for the appreciation of the French court. On the return journey across the channel their ship was captured by Dunkirk pirates, who plundered the ship but eventually released them to return to England. Hudson's second trip across the Channel occurred in 1637, at age 18, when a group of courtiers travelled to the Netherlands to observe the siege of Breda, as the Dutch were attempting to expel the Spanish army.