Bartholomew Pearson was a yeoman farmer. He worked for Sir Percival Willoughby on his estate in Wollaton, England. In 1612, Sir Percival sent Bartholomew to Newfoundland. One of his jobs was to see if there was any good farmland on Sir Percival's property in Newfoundland. Bartholomew was not impressed and reported that the high ground was too rocky and the low ground was too wet for farming. Bartholomew did seem to be more impressed with the hunting in Newfoundland.

An Adventure in Newfoundland

Bartholomew was one of the colonists who sailed into Trinity Bay with John Guy in October 1612, to trade with the Beothuk. John Guy, Henry Crout and 12 other colonists sailed in a ship called the Indeavour. Bartholomew and four more sailed in  a smaller boat called a shallop. While sailing into Trinity Bay the two boats were separated. Bartholomew's boat sailed south to Heart's Content but the Indeavour was blown north to Catalina. A few days later, both boats met up again in Hopeall which the colonists called Mount Eagle Bay.

Shipwrecked!!!

On November 14, while the two vessels were sailing back out of Trinity Bay, Bartholomew's boat was shipwrecked at Bay de Verde. All of the men managed to get ashore but they were lost and didn't have a compass. They spent three days wandering around on the hills behind Bay de Verde and then decided to walk south along the coast. Five days later they reached Carbonear. Bartholomew and his companions were very hungry and could only find roots and berries to eat on their walk. They saw many caribou and other game along the way but couldn't hunt because they didn't have a gun. Carbonear was deserted because all the migratory fishermen had gone back to England. They found a piece of salt cod and two fish there. They also found a boat. On November 22, they sailed the boat out of Carbonear and the next day they arrived in Cupers Cove.

A Return to England

Bartholomew stayed in Cupers Cove during the winter of 1613 and spent some of his time there hunting. Henry Crout tells us that in January he killed a grey fox and a black fox after “watching this winter some three nights”. However, Bartholomew didn't get along well with John Guy and said that he would only stay in Newfoundland if he could settle on Sir Percival's land. This didn't happen and later that year he returned to Wollaton.

Bartholomew seems to have spent the rest of his life in Nottingham. He married Elizabeth Baguleughe there in 1617. He remained connected to Sir Percival's family and leased both farmland and coal-pits from him.

Pearson's Letter to Sir Percival Willoughby, April, 1613