Origins & Early Life

Bartholomew Gosnold (b. 1571 – d. 1607) was an English barrister, explorer and privateer who was instrumental in founding the Virginia Company in London and Jamestown in colonial America. He led the first recorded European expedition to Cape Cod.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He is considered by Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) to be the "prime mover of the colonization of Virginia". Gosnold was born in Grundisburgh in Suffolk, England, in 1571, and his family seat was at Otley Hall, Otley, Suffolk. His parents were Anthony Gosnold of Grundisburgh and Dorothy Bacon of Hessett. Henry Gosnold, the judge and friend of Francis Bacon, was his cousin. Bartholomew had a younger brother Anthony, born sometime between 1573 and 1578, who accompanied him to Virginia as well as a cousin also named Anthony Gosnold who was still living in Virginia in 1615.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

In 1578, the will of Bartholomew's great-grandmother Ann Gosnold shows five sisters (Elizabeth, Margaret, Dorothy, Anne, and Mary) of Bartholomew and Anthony. Gosnold graduated from Jesus College at the University of Cambridge and studied law at the Middle Temple. It was probably...

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