Sebastian Cabot was an English navigator. He was born about 1474 at Bristol and died about 1557. He was the son of John Cabot, a Venetian pilot, who resided at Bristol, and was highly esteemed for his skill in navigation. John Cabot appears to have settled in Bristol about 1472, and to have died there about 1498, after having lived again for some time at Venice. In 1496 John Cabot received from Henry VII a commission giving him and his sons authority to sail for the purpose of discovering islands and countries then unknown; and in 1497, in company with Sebastian Cabot and two other sons, he discovered the mainland of North America, having visited Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island.
In another voyage soon after Sebastian CAbot is said to have visited Labrador and Newfoundland. He subsequently entered the service of King Ferdinand of Spain, and in 1516 was to make an attempt to discover the north-west passage, an attempt relinquished owing to the king's death. In 1526, when in the Spanish service, he was put in charge of an expedition which visited Brazil and the river Plate. He now held the office of examiner of pilots under Charles V, and while in this post he compiled a famous map of the world published in 1544.
In 1547 he again settled in England, and received a pension from Edward VI He became life-governor of the Company of Merchant Adventurers, who under his advice made an attempt to discover a way to Cathay (China) by the northeast, an attempt having important results for English trade with Russia and Asia. He was among the first who noticed and investigated the variations of the compass. Research Sebastian Cabot
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