Cabot, John

Cabot, John (d. 1498) and Sebastian (1474–1557). Much obscurity surrounds the lives of the Cabots, father and son, and their precise roles in the discovery of the Americas. But they discovered and defined the north-east American coast as part of a continent and Sebastian set the British on the long and fruitless search for polar passages to the Orient. Genoese born, but working for Venice and Spain, John came to Bristol in 1493 and was inspired by Columbus to try to cross the Atlantic. After one failure, he reached Cape Breton and Newfoundland in the Matthew in 1497, thinking initially that he had reached Cathay. He died on an attempted repeat voyage. Sebastian may have been with him in 1497 but certainly attempted the North-West Passage to the Orient in 1508. Possibly he reached the entrance to Hudson's Bay before navigating to a disputed extent southwards along the North American coast. With a decline in English interest, Sebastian sailed with a Spanish expedition to the river Plate in 1526–30 and was influential as a cartographer and trainer of pilots. In 1547, he returned to English service, advised on maritime matters, and helped to found the Company of Merchant Venturers which, in searching for a North-East Passage, opened up trade with Russia.

Roy C. Bridges