| William Weston | |
|---|---|
| Born | unknown, 15th century |
| Died | circa 1504/5 |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | merchant |
| Known for | leading a voyage to Newfoundland |
| Home town | Bristol |
| Spouse | Agnes (née Foster) |
William Weston was a 15th-century English merchant from Bristol. Since 2010, he is believed to have been the first Englishman to lead an expedition to North America. Weston was married to Agnes Foster, daughter of prominent merchant John Foster,[1] known in Bristol as the founder of Foster's Almshouses. Weston lived at what is now 41 Corn Street and can be shown to have engaged in trade with Madeira as early as 1480.[2] Some further information about him can be found in an unpublished 2007 MA dissertation.[3]
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There is little documentary evidence regarding Weston but, according to Dr Evan Jones of Bristol University, a letter from King Henry VII suggests that Weston sailed to the New World in 1499. This voyage to the ‘New Found Land’ was only two years after the first visit by the Venetian John Cabot. In 1497, also sailing from Bristol, he "discovered" North America.[4]
Weston first appears in the official records in January 1498, when he received a reward of 40 shillings from the King.[5] This early payment supports the historical contention of Dr Alwyn Ruddock that Weston had been involved in the 1497 and 1498 expeditions and that he had been "an important Bristol supporter" of Cabot.[6] Cabot followed his successful 1497 trip with a second one the following year, supported by Henry VII. It is unclear whether Weston accompanied this expedition.
In 1499 Weston prepared another expedition, also with Henry's support. The evidence for this is a letter written by Henry to his Lord Chancellor. In this letter, dated 12 March 1499, Henry suspends an injunction against Weston in the Court of Chancery by John Esterfeld, because Weston would soon "with God’s grace pass and sail for to search and find if he can the new found land".[7] While in a sense an independent voyage, it is likely that Weston, as a supporter of Cabot, was covered by the terms of Cabot’s (1496) monopoly patent for westward exploration. Cabot may have made Weston a formal deputy or assign of his patent; this would explain why the King was willing to assist Weston in undertaking a voyage that would otherwise have been in breach of his own royal patent.
According to Dr Jones, the letter demonstrates that Weston was the first Englishman to lead an expedition to North America. Further research by Jones suggests that Weston's expedition may have reached the Labrador Sea and perhaps the Hudson Strait. Dr Jones notes that the letter was discovered in the late 1970s by Margaret Condon, an Assistant Keeper at the Public Record Office, who relayed the discovery to Professor David Beers Quinn. He passed it on to the Cabot expert Dr Alwyn Ruddock, who was said to be working on a major book about him. At her death in December 2005, Dr Ruddock left instructions for her research notes to be destroyed.[8]
Condon and Jones are working together on a research project, dubbed "The Cabot Project" at the University of Bristol, to find more information about the Bristol discovery voyages of this period.[9] Recent unpublished finds include a reference to a reward received by William Weston subsequent to his 1499 voyage.