He is best known for being the husband of Pocahontas and the first settler in the colony of Virginia to successfully cultivate a tobacco crop for export.

He played a crucial role in the Virginia Colony's early economy by introducing a sweeter strain of tobacco from Trinidad, which became a profitable cash crop.

Rolfe married Pocahontas, daughter of Native American leader Powhatan, and they had a son named Thomas.

Rolfe was one of a number of businessmen who saw the opportunity to undercut Spanish imports by growing tobacco in England's new colony in Virginia.

Heading the Third Supply fleet was the new flagship of the Virginia Company, the Sea Venture, carrying Rolfe and his wife, Sarah.

The Third Supply fleet left England in May 1609 destined for Jamestown with seven large ships, towing two smaller pinnaces.

The admiral of the company, Sir George Somers, took the helm and the ship was deliberately driven onto the reefs of Bermuda to prevent its foundering.

Most remained for ten months in Bermuda, (also known as The Somers Isles), while they built two small ships to continue the voyage to Jamestown.

In May 1610, the two newly constructed ships set sail from Bermuda, with 142 castaways on board, including Rolfe, George Somers, Stephen Hopkins, and Sir Thomas Gates.

On arrival at Jamestown, they found the Virginia Colony almost destroyed by famine and disease during what has become known as the Starving Time.

[citation needed] In competing with Spain for European markets, there was another problem beside the warmer climates the Spanish settlements enjoyed.

The native tobacco from Virginia (Nicotiana rustica) was not liked by the English settlers, nor did it appeal to the market in England.

However, Rolfe wanted to introduce sweeter strains from Trinidad, using the hard-to-obtain Spanish seeds he brought with him.

Rolfe married Pocahontas, daughter of the local Native American leader Powhatan, on 5 April 1614.

Rolfe's letters to England in 1620 include the earliest mention of the first arrival of enslaved Africans to Virginia, who were brought by a Dutch man-of-war in August 1619 and were traded to the colony's governor for supplies.

Thomas Rolfe, who had grown up in England, returned to Virginia as an adult[16] and married Jane Poythress.