John Guy

John Guy, the son of a tradesman, was born in Bristol in 1567. During his life he rose to become a merchant dealing in, among other things, the importation of Iberian wines and served as sheriff and mayor of Bristol and as a member of Parliament. He played a major role in the formation of the London and Bristol Company which established the first English colony in what is now Canada at Cupids in Conception Bay, Newfoundland in 1610 and served as the colony’s first governor. It was largely as a result of his able leadership that the colony was such a success in the first few years of its existence. As a member of parliament he championed the cause of English settlement in Newfoundland. John Guy died in 1628 and was buried at St. Stephen’s Church, Bristol.