He was one of the first modern explorers of the Northeast coasts of North America, including the large Labrador peninsula, which was named after him by European settlers in eastern Canada.
Lavrador was granted a patent by King Manuel I in 1498 that gave him the right to explore the part of the Atlantic Ocean as set out in the Treaty of Tordesillas.
Lavrador also charted the coasts of Southwestern Greenland and of adjacent Northeastern North America around 1498; he reported on these observations and gave notice of them in Europe.
[citation needed] Upon his return from Greenland, Lavrador sailed to Bristol.
[citation needed] Lavrador was granted title to much of the lands he had discovered and is considered the first European landowner in Labrador.