Bristol - Voyages of Discovery

Bristol - The Age of Discovery

For some of our merchants who had grown very rich during the previous years, it wasn't such a financial risk to send out ships looking for new lands and new markets.

In 1460 the younger Canynges owned nine ships and employed 800 men. Thomas Strange, in 1480, owned twelve ships, another prominent ship owner was John Goodman.

The sailors of Bristol had heard tales of 'Vinland' to the west through their trade with Iceland. From Spain and Portugal they had bought back tales of the 'Western Isles' and the 'Island of Brazil'. In 1480, John Jay the younger financed a cruise by a 80-ton ship, captained by a Welshman, Thomas Lloyd to seek the 'Island of Brazil'. After spending nine weeks in the Atlantic the ship returned to Bristol, its mission unfulfilled. Another voyage, the following year also returned empty handed.

John Cabot was a Venetian, who had left Italy to settle and become a merchant in Bristol. Here he married and had three sons. One of these, Sebastian, was trained by his father in the sciences of Mathematics and Navigation. John himself was very keen to explore whatever lands may be to the west and on 5th March 1496 he secured the following letter from King Henry VII.

"Henry, by the grace of God, King of England, and France, and Lord of Ireland, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting. Be it known that we have given and granted to our well-beloved John Cabot, citizen of Venice, to Lewis, Sebastian, and Sanctius, sons of the said John, and to the heirs of them and every one of them and their deputies, full and free authority, leave and power, to sail to all parts, countries, and seas of the east, of the west, and of the north, under our banners and ensigns, with five ships of what burden or quality soever they be, and as many mariners or men as they will have with them in the said ships upon their own proper costs and charges, to seek out, discover, and find whatsoever isles, countries, regions or provinces of the heathens and infidels whatsoever they be and in what part of the world soever they be which before this time have been unknown to all Christians . . ."

The document goes on to say that the Cabots were given leave to "set up our banners and ensigns" in all and any lands that they discovered and to "subdue, occupy and possess" any such lands in the King's name. The document finishes by saying . . .

". . . for every their voyage, as often as they shall arrive at our port of Bristol (at which port they shall be bound and holden only to arrive), all manner of necessary costs and charges by them being deducted, to pay unto us in wares or money the fifth part of the capital gain so gotten."

Cabot sailed on 2nd May 1497, not with five ships, but one, the tiny Matthew, with a crew of just 18.

The departure of John and Sebastian Cabot

The departure of John and Sabastian Cabot from Bristol on their first voyage of discovery, 1497
Oil on canvas by Ernest Board, 1906
This picture can be seen at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.

Replica of the Cabot's Matthew

On 23rd August 1497, Pasqualigo writing to his family in Venice says that Cabot had discovered the land of the Grand Khan and that . . .

". . . He saw no human beings, but he has bought hither to the king certain snares which had been set to catch game, and a needle for making nets. He also found some felled trees. Wherefore he supposed there were inhabitants, and returned to his ship in alarm. He was there three months on the voyage, and on his return he saw two islands, but would not land, time being precious, as he was short of provisions . . . His name is Zuan Cabot, and he is styled the great Admiral. Vast honour is paid to him; he dresses in silk, and the English run after him like mad people."

The voyage to this land had taken 54 days. On 18th December 1497, Soncino wrote a letter to the Duke of Milan. In this he wrote . . .

". . . the chief men of the enterprise are of Bristol, great sailors, who now that they know where to go, say it is not a voyage of more than 15 days."

The land that John Cabot had discovered was Primavista, or as we know it Newfoundland. Cabot was mistaken in that he thought that it was part of the Indies, for which he was searching. Sailing onwards they had found another land, but could find nowhere to safely harbour. The Collector of Customs at the Port of Bristol at this time was Richard ap Meryk or Ameryk, it is thought that this new land was named in his honour, hence America. As Cabot's voyage was a year before Christopher Columbus's journey to South America, Bristol can be said to be the Birthplace of America.

Plaque celebrating Cabot's discovery

Plaque on Bristol's city centre celebrating Cabot's discovery of America

The King was well pleased with Cabot, and on 10th August 1497 made a grant from the Privy Purse of £10 to him, and on 28th January 1498 a pension of £20 a year was made to John. John Ameryk's daughter was later to marry John Broke, Henry VIII's Sergeant-at-Law and these two are buried in St Mary Redcliffe church.

In 1897, the foundation stone of Cabot's Tower on Brandon Hill was laid. From this tower are fine views across the whole of Bristol. Indeed, many of the general views of Bristol were taken from this tower in January/February 2000 or from the helium balloon that was tethered on Castle Green during the summer of 1999. The tower seems a bit smaller now I'm older but the views are just as spectacular as when I was a boy. I've known since my schooldays that there are several places named Bristol in America but until I started my research for these pages I didn't realise how many. There are also many other places whose names have a West Country origin there. In fact, in February 2000 I received an email from Somerset, Massachusetts, which incidentally is one of the New England states. For a list of these please go to the page Bristol in the US.

Cabot Tower on Brandon Hill

It's not known for sure when John Cabot died, but it was probably sometime after a second voyage to North America in 1498. His son, Sebastian, however, went on to still greater things. In 1509 he sailed with two ships to find the North West passage. Beaten back by ice he returned to England to find that Henry VII had died and that Henry VIII was unwilling to sponsor any more voyages of this nature. Sebastian then went to Spain.

Whilst in Spain, Sebastian met another Bristolian, Robert Thorne. In 1527 Thorne had written a book, A Declaration of the Indies, in which he urges the discovery of a Polar route to the Indies. He reasons that a trip to the Indies via this route, if one could be found, would be 2,480 leagues long, instead of the 6,000 via Cape Horn or 4,300 via the Cape of Good Hope. He dismisses the dangers of this northerly route as no more than those of the tropics. Robert Thorne and his brother, Nicholas, were to make a fortune in trade with the West Indies, in 1532 they contributed to the founding of Bristol Grammar School.

In 1544, during the Siege of Boulogne, Bristol contributed twelve ships to the King. The three largest were the 600-ton Thorne, the Pratt, also 600 tons and the 400-ton Gourney. These ships were greatly praised by the King.

Sebastian returned to England in 1548 and was soon engaged in the organisation of a Joint Stock Company, The Merchant Adventurers of England for the Discovery of Lands, Territories, Isles, Dominions and Seignories Unknown. The company had 200 members and a capital of £6,000 divided into £25 shares. Sebastion was Governor of the company under a charter issued by Edward VI, this post he held until he died. In 1553 Willoughby and Chancellor, at his suggestion, set out to find a North East passage around the north of Russia to Cathay. They didn't succeed in this, but Chancellor did reach Moscow and thus opened up trade between England and Russia.

Attempts to find the North West passage continued. Martin Frobisher led expeditions in 1576, 1577 and 1578; these were supported from several Bristol merchants, including Sir William Wynter and his brother, George. The 1576 expedition found Frobisher Bay, and a piece of ore was bought back. More of this ore was bought back in the 200 ton Ayde during the 1577 expedition. The assay results of this ore were good enough so that in 1578 no less than 15 ships set out to find more. All the searchers were turned back by ice and bad weather and the development of trade in this ore ceased, it also didn't help that it was costing nearly as much to extract the gold from the ore, which was very hard, than the gold was worth.

Adams's Chronicle of Bristol for 1577 states that as well as bringing the ore back from "Cattai" (Cathay), Frobisher and his expedition . . .

"They brought back likewise a man called Callicho, and a woman called Ignorth; they were savage people and fed only upon raw flesh. The 9th of October he rowed in a little boat made of skin in the water at the Backe, where he killed 2 ducks with a dart, and when he had done carried his boat through the marsh upon his back: the like he did at the weir and other places where many beheld him. He would hit a duck a good distance off and not miss. They died here within a month."

Piracy was rife on the high seas in the early part of the 16th Century and Bristol sailors were sometimes caught up in their activities. A Plymouth captain, John Rawlings, was captured by pirates and sold as a slave in Algiers. He was put to work on the Exchange, a captured Bristol ship. He and some fellow slaves mutinied, threw their captors overboard, and sailed the ship back to Bristol.

Andrew Barker and his brother, John were Bristol merchants who were engaged in trade with Spain. In 1570 one of their ships was captured by the Spanish and the crew enslaved. In 1574, Andrew fitted out the Bristol ship, Speedwell, for a voyage from Teneriffe to the Canaries. This trip went well, but another in 1575 in the Dartmouth ship, Christopher, with the Bristol captain Henry Roberts, wasn't so lucky. The ship was seized and Roberts imprisoned. Barker's possessions in the Canaries, worth £1,700 were confiscated.

Barker swore to be avenged and returned home and fitted out the two ships, the Bear and the Rugged Staff and sailed for Trinidad. Here he caught up with some Spanish ships, destroyed them, and sailed to South America where he captured a frigate containing gold and silver worth £500. Roberts seems to be a headstrong man and quarreled with the Captain and eventually fought a duel with him. The Rugged Staff developed bad leaks and had to be abandoned. The crew was transferred to the captured frigate. Things must have gotten pretty bad as off the coast of Honduras, William Cox and some others boarded Barker's ship. In the fight that followed both Cox and Barker were wounded. Barker and thirty others were put ashore until the ships could be got ready to leave again. Unfortunately, the Spanish attacked early one morning and Barker and eight of his companions were killed.

The two ships set sail for home. The Bear, carrying the bulk of the proceeds of the booty, worth around £2,000, capsized. The ship and fourteen men were lost. On reaching Scilly, Cox divided up what was left of the prize amongst the crew, each man getting between £5 and £7. They sailed onto Plymouth where the crew was arrested and the ringleaders sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment.

Sir William Wynter and his brother, George, also played a part in Drakes circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580. They subscribed £750 and £500 respectively towards the expedition and another member of the family, John, was the captain of the Elizabeth.

By the time the ships reached the Straits of Magellan two of the five ships that had started out had already been lost. Due to the extreme storms in the area it was arranged that the ships should assemble at Valparaiso. Drake was driven by violent storms to the south where he discovered Cape Horn. The Elizabeth returned home bearing false news of the total failure of the expedition. For a while John Wynter was considered a coward, but documents show that his crew were close to mutiny and refused to travel any more westwards, John was reluctantly forced to return home.

In 1588 England was threatened by the Spanish Armada and Bristol once again supplied ships in defence of the realm. The Great Unicorn, Minion, Handmaid and Ayde joined the fleet at Plymouth. All the canvas at St James Fair was sent to Tilbury to provide tentage but on 24th November 1588 a great thanksgiving was held all over the country.

During Queen Elizabeth I reign one Bristolian became prominent. Richard Hakluyt. Hakluyt was a pioneer of the idea of colonisation. When Humphrey Gilbert's expedition failed in 1579 it was Hakluyt who maintained the idea of voyages of discovery. His book, Navigations, Voyages and Discoveries of the English Nation, became a classic. Later books describe how colonies should be founded and maintained and it was many of the ideas of this cleric that helped the setting up of many of the colonies in the 17th Century.

To find out how these newly discovered countries were colonised please go to 1450 Onwards .

This page created 27th February 2000, last modified 11th December 2005

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