Newfoundland Settlement – The Founding Settlement Of The Commonwealth Of Virginia

In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert founded Newfoundland, under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I, within what would become the Commonwealth of Virginia. I would argue, unlike most historians, that while the settlement of Newfoundland failed, 1583 should be designated as the founding of the Colony of Virginia, rather than the date of 1607 for the establishment of Jamestown, because it was the first attempt to colonize that area by the British.

After the English Civil War of the 1500s, members of the Colony of Virginia were deemed to be loyal emigrants of Britain, according to King Charles II, hence granting the Colony the name “The Old Dominion”.