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Born in Grundisburgh, Suffolk, England.
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The eldest son of an English country squire, Bartholomew Gosnold attended Cambridge University before marrying and settling at Bury St. Edmunds in the late 1590s.
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In 1602 Gosnold commanded a voyage of exploration to the New World. Gosnold reached the North American coast in lower Maine, then sailed southward to a peninsula that he named Cape Cod. During that voyage to New England, he also explored the coastal waters along with Martha’s Vineyard and Narragansett Bay.
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When the vessels reached Cape Henry in April 1607, Gosnold was a member of the resident council for the settlement. He opposed establishing the settlement on Jamestown Island but was overruled by Edward Wingfield, president of the council. -
Gosnold died during an epidemic of malaria.
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In 2003 archaeologists uncovered what they believed to be Gosnold’s remains, just outside the grounds of the historical settlement. Although DNA testing proved inconclusive, and archaeological evidence supported the theory.
