|
William Weston was a 15th-century English merchant from Bristol, who was probably the first Englishman to lead an expedition to North America, the voyage taking place most likely in 1499 or 1500. The fact of Weston's leadership has been discovered only in the early 21st century, and it changes interpretations of the discovery era. He also is believed to have been part of John Cabot's landmark 1497 expedition, the first European expedition to North America since the Vikings 500 years before. == Life and background == William Weston is believed to have been born in Bristol, where he became a fairly minor merchant. He undertook one of the earliest English trading voyages to Madeira, a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic.〔E.M. Carus-Wilson (ed.), ''The Overseas Trade of Bristol in the Later Middle Ages'' (Bristol Record Society Publications, Vol. VII, Bristol, 1937), p. 285; D.B. Quinn, ''England and the Discovery of America, 1481–1620'' (1973), p. 57〕 This took place in 1480 and was likely intended as a way of gaining direct access to the sugar plantations of what was developing as an important Portuguese colony. In February 1488 Weston was acting as the 'attorney' to the prominent Bristol merchant, John Foster. At this time Weston managed Foster's ship, the ''Anthony'' of Bristol, a vessel of about 380 tons burden. The greatest vessel in the Bristol fleet, the ''Anthony'' sank at Kingroad (Avonmouth) at the very end of a voyage to Lisbon, with Weston on board. Bristol's merchants blamed the maritime disaster on the negligence of the master. While it is unclear whether Weston was blamed, he subsequently became embroiled in a legal dispute relating to the wreck.〔Margaret Condon and Evan T. Jones (eds.), ('William Weston v Thomas Smith: Chancery Petition, 1490' ),(PURE, 2012)〕 By 1492 Weston married Agnes Foster, daughter of merchant John Foster.〔Evan. T. Jones (ed.), (‘John Esterfeld vs. William Weston of Bristol: Chancery petition transcript, c.1499’ ), The National Archives, C1/199/76 (University of Bristol, Bristol Repository of Scholarly Eprints (ROSE), 2009)〕 Her father was known in Bristol as the founder of Foster's Almshouses. Weston and his wife lived at what is now 41 Corn Street.〔Evan T. Jones, (2009), ( 'Henry VII and the Bristol expeditions to North America: the Condon documents' ), ''Historical Research'', 27 Aug 2009, p. 8, n. 29〕 It appears that Foster did not approve of his daughter's marriage to Weston, as Foster's 1492 will left nothing to his son-in-law and comparatively little to his daughter.〔Evan T. Jones (ed.), ('Will of John Foster, merchant of Bristol, 6 August 1492' ) (Bristol Repository of Scholarly Eprints (ROSE), 2008)〕 The will included clauses that ensured that, if Agnes died before William, her inherited property would go to the Almshouse rather than her husband. Additional information about Weston can be found in an unpublished 2007 MA dissertation by Annabel Peacock.〔Annabel Peacock, (''The Men of Bristol and the Atlantic Discovery Voyages of the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries'' ) (MA Dissertation, Bristol, 2007)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Weston (explorer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|