How Newfoundland got its Name

Some recently publicized documents, including a letter written by King Henry VII in 1499, have revealed the existence of a forgotten expedition to the New World. The story has received media coverage in The National Post and The Times. As well, check out the Tudorhistory.org blog.

Details about the expedition itself are scarce, including whether it even took place. University of Bristol historian Evan Jones has written an article on the letter.

In any event the letter itself is an instruction from Henry to his lord chancellor, John Morton, to suspend legal proceedings against a hitherto obscure Bristol merchant named William Weston, who was being sued in the Court of Chancery.

The King stepped in because he wanted Weston to make the voyage to the land discovered by John Cabot in 1497:

Soo it is that we entende that he shall shortly with goddes grace passe and saille for to serche and fynde if he can the new founde land.

It will never likely be known for certain when “new found land” came to refer to the island of Newfoundland in particular, but King Henry’s letter is the earliest known use of the phrase.

King Henry VII