Bartholomew Gosnold

The eldest son of an English country squire of Suffolk, Gosnold was a member of the Virginia Company and one of the leading figures at Jamestown, an English settlement in North America.

After he participated in the expedition to the Azores in 1595, Gosnold became interested in colonizing North America. Although his attempt to found a colony in New England in 1602 failed, he made contribution to the history for being the first documented European visitor to Cape Elizabeth, as well as for naming Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard.

Gosnold relied on extensive family connections to find the members for the Virginia Company of London with the aim of establishing of a new colony in Virginia. After the investors gained the support of King James I, the Virginia Company was granted a royal charter. Gosnold himself served as vice-admiral of the expedition, and a captain of the Godspeed, one of the three ships to make the voyage in 1607.

Unfortunately, he died only four months after they landed, during an epidemic of malaria.