Rolled up parchment with information of payment to William Weston from Henry VII

In AD 1499 England launched its very first English-led expedition to “Terra Nova” (New World) and now researchers studying a 16th century scroll have found King Henry VII awarded William Weston, one the explorers, with a handsome paycheck.

While the payment of 30 British pounds sterling could hardly be called a king’s ransom, at that time this was a considerable sum of money; equivalent of a laborers salary for six years, said researchers in a their paper which was published online Oct. 2 in the journal Historical Research. The information was discovered on a huge parchment dating back more than 500 years and ultraviolet light was required to reveal the hidden text said study co-researcher Evan Jones, a senior lecturer in economic and social history at the University of Bristol in a report in Live Science.

Early Transatlantic Rumors

In 2009, the University of Bristol published Jones paper titled The lost voyage: First English-led expedition to North America in which a “long lost letter” written by King Henry VII was addressed to Weston as he “was preparing for an expedition to the new found land.” The king was excited and in support of Weston because in AD 1497 and 1498 the Venetian explorer John Cabot had successfully sailed the Atlantic having set off from the southern English port of Bristol. But it seems Weston was preparing a British-led expedition.