AMERICAN President George W Bush has paid tribute to Suffolk explorer Bartholomew Gosnold during 400th anniversary celebrations of the first permanent English settlement in the US.

AMERICAN President George W Bush has paid tribute to Suffolk explorer Bartholomew Gosnold during 400th anniversary celebrations of the first permanent English settlement in the US.

He was given a tour of Jamestown, which was jointly-founded by Captain Gosnold in 1607 after his expedition to the New World.

President Bush told the crowds that the story of Jamestown would always have a special place in American history - and paid tribute to the founding fathers.

He said: “It's the story of a great migration from the Old World to the New. It is a story of hardship overcome by resolve. It's a story of the Tidewater settlement that laid the foundation of our great democracy.

“That story began on a dock near London in December of 1606. More than a hundred English colonists set sail for a new life across the ocean in Virginia. They had dreams of paradise that were sustained during their long months at sea by their strong spirit. And then they got here, and a far different reality awaited them.”

He went on that on May 13 1607 the travellers arrived in America, naming the town Jamestown after their King and told of how the search for gold eventually gave way to a desperate search for food while relations with native Americans broke down.

Mr Bush added: “The hope for a better life turned into a longing for the comforts of home.”

Captain Gosnold's family seat was at Otley Hall in Suffolk. After landing in the New World, he named the island Martha's Vineyard - now a Presidential holiday retreat - after his one-year-old daughter, and also named Cape Cod.

But he died soon after and his legacy was largely lost to American history - but yesterday President Bush said: “Britain and America are united by our democratic heritage, and by the history that began at this settlement 400 years ago.”