Yet Gosnold has remained largely forgotten. No great rivers bear his name, nor great cities, nor great universities. We never read about him in school, or have heard his name numbered among the Founding Fathers.

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Recently, in 2003 archeologists at Jamestown excavated a grave believed to be that of Bartholomew Gosnold. Unprecedented DNA testing of known Gosnold graves in East Anglia has proved inconclusive in identifying him. Where the explorer and visionary leader's dusty remains lie, however, does not matter.

It is easy to think that British colonization in North America was inevitable, and would have taken place with or without a prime mover like Bartholomew Gosnold. In fact, however, history would likely not have allowed that to happen. A young King James I was quite anxious to maintain peace with Spain in the early 1600s, and Spain was crawling all over the New World. Historians suggest that had it not been for Gosnold, then almost certainly the Atlantic coast would have become Spanish territory.

Gosnold had a timely idea and the persistence, fortune and connections to make good on that idea. Jamestown was a shaky proposition for many years. It was very poorly sited, even by the knowledge of the day, and weakly conceived as a society and a colony. Still, it did manage to survive, and goes on to celebrate its 400th anniversary in May 2007 as the first permanent colony in British North America and what became these United States. Its founder was Bartholomew Gosnold. We have certainly recognized many heroes for less significant contributions to our national history.

This article was written by Dana Huntley and originally appeared in the November 2006 issue of British Heritage. For more great articles, subscribe to British Heritage magazine today!

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