Bartholomew Pearson (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1612 – 1632)

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...

, settler, born in

Wollaton Wollaton is a suburb and former civil parish in the western part of Nottingham, in the Nottingham district, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. Wollaton has two wards in the City of Nottingham (''Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey'' ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

was one of the group of English settlers of John Guy's colony at

Cuper's Cove Cuper's Cove, on the southwest shore of Conception Bay on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula was an early English settlement in the New World, and the third one after Harbour Grace, Newfoundland (1583) and Jamestown, Virginia (1607) to endure for ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

who had arrived in 1612, two years after the colony was established.

Mission to the colony

Pearson was most likely sent by

Percival Willoughby Sir Percival Willoughby (died 23 August 1643) of Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire was a prominent land owner, businessman, and entrepreneur involved during his lifetime variously in mining, iron smelting, and glass making enterprises in Nottinghams ...

to access the

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

potential of the colony and surroundings. He had found little in the way of establishing a farming business but he did collect much information on the wildlife. Pearson had taken part in John Guy's expedition to Trinity Bay to find and make friends with the

Beothuk The Beothuk ( or ; also spelled Beothuck) were a group of Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous people of Canada who lived on the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland. The Beothuk culture formed around 1500 CE. This may have been ...

Shipwreck

On their return trip, the boat was shipwrecked at

Bay de Verde Bay de Verde ( 2016 population: 392) is an incorporated town in Conception Bay on the northern tip of the Bay de Verde Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The first recorded inhabitants at Bay de Verde arrived in 1662. Bay de Verde bec ...

. The survivors were forced to walk to

Carbonear Carbonear is a town on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It overlooks the west side of Conception Bay and had a history long tied to fishing and shipbuilding. Since the late 20th century, its economy has changed to empha ...

where they found a boat and finally returned to Cuper's Cove.

Personal life

Pearson had requested of Willoughby his dismissal from the colony, and returned to England in 1613. He married Elizabeth Baguleughe in 1617.

External links

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Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation

Journey to 1612 to find Beothuk's

Bio of Bartholomew Pearson

Bartholomew Pearson's letter of 1613
Settlers of Newfoundland English emigrants to pre-Confederation Newfoundland {{Canada-bio-stub