Bartholomew Gosnold

Bartholomew Gosnold
Coat of Arms of Bartholomew Gosnold
Born	1571 Grundisburgh, Suffolk, England
Died	22 August 1607 Jamestown, Virginia
Known for	Founder of the Virginia Company of London
Spouse(s)	Mary Goldinge
Parent(s)	Anthony Gosnold and Dorothy Bacon

Bartholomew Gosnold (1571 – 22 August 1607) was an English lawyer, explorer, and privateer who was instrumental in founding the Virginia Company of London, and Jamestown in colonial America. He led the first recorded European expedition to Cape Cod. 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, 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, born sometime between 1573 and 1578, who, according to tradition, accompanied him to Virginia. In 1578, the will of Bartholomew's great-grandmother Ann Doggett (Bacon) Gosnold shows five sisters to Bartholomew and Anthony.

Gosnold graduated from the University of Cambridge and studied law at Middle Temple. He was a friend of Richard Hakluyt and sailed with Walter Raleigh. He married Mary Golding at Latton, Essex in 1595, and together they had seven children, six of whom were baptized at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, between 1597 and 1607. Mary Golding was daughter of Robert Golding and Martha Judd. Her mother was daughter of Sir Andrew Judd a wealthy London merchant who, among other offices, was Lord Mayor of London, 1550–51. More importantly for Gosnold's story, he was also grandfather to Thomas Smith, one of the founders of the Virginia Company. "Bartholomew's marriage, which has the appearance of one arranged with foresight, brought together a young man of high standing among the landed gentry and a young lady whose antecedents were found chiefly among the wealthier merchants of the city of London."