Newport wasn't actually the first to Jamestown ... Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, Captain Bartholomew Gilbert and Captain Gabriel Archer would all venture there beforehand, and Gilbert died there in 1603. (see below)
By the age of 29, Christopher Newport had already earned the rank of Captain. In 1587, Christopher Newport was master’s mate of the privateering ship the Drake, and he sailed with Sir Francis Drake to Cádiz, where Drake destroyed Spanish ships. Afterward, Newport’s privateer cruised the Spanish coast searching for other prizes. Newport, referred to subsequently as “of Limehouse, mariner,” was master of the Margaret, out of London, in 1589.
In 1590, he served in his first major command, as captain of the Little John in a fleet that sailed for the West Indies and Virginia. Off the northwestern coast of Cuba, Newport lost his right arm as he tried to capture two Mexican ships.
Because of his ever-growing reputation and accomplishments, he then commanded a flotilla of privateers and led attacks on Spanish towns into the Caribbean. He greatest success was in the capture the extremely rich Portuguese ship Madre de Dios in 1592, and then sailed it back to England, with nearly a half a million pounds of treasure on board.
In 1595, Newport made his only voyage to the Mediterranean. That was also the year he also married his third wife, Elizabeth Glanville, the daughter of a leading London goldsmith. (His first wife had died by 1590, when he married Ellen Ade, who subsequently died).
When Newport married into the Glanville family, his status changed from an employee of various London merchants to a partner of his brothers-in-law. He became a one-sixth owner of the new, heavily armed trading and privateering vessel Neptune. Between 1595 and the end of the Anglo-Spanish War in 1604, Newport annually raided Spanish-Caribbean settlements and ships. He became one of the most experienced ship captains in England in terms of voyages to and from the Caribbean. After the peace treaty was signed, he turned from privateering to trade and met equal success.
In 1602, Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, Captain Bartholomew Gilbert and Captain Gabriel Archer led the brief colonization of the Elizabeth Isles. Gosnold explored and named Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. Gosnold and Archer’s experiences along the New England coast informed their views on organizing and establishing the Virginia colony
In July of 1603 Captain Bartholomew Gilbert voyages to the Chesapeake Bay. He and four others go ashore and are killed by Native Americans.
On "January 11, 1606, Sir Robert Mansell, Sir John Trevor and others, recommended [him] to Lord Admiral Nottingham for the [advancement to] the office of one of the principal masters of the navy." Two days later, on "January 13, 1606, the Lord Admiral replied to Sir Robert Mansell, Sir Henry Palmer, Sir John Trevor and Sir Peter Buck, the principal officers of the Royal Navy, that he [had] granted ... the [advancement] solicited, ..."
With this "special confidence and trust" bestowed in him, he was on December 10, 1606, commissioned to sail under the auspices of the London Company, with "sole charge and command of all the captains, soldiers and mariners, and all other persons, that shall go in any of the said ships and pinnace in the said voyage from the day of the date hereof until such time as they shall fortune to land upon the said coast of Virginia." Admiral Christopher Newport, then, had total responsibility for the success or failure of the English expedition that finally landed on Jamestown Island. (As an aside, and as noted by historian Alexander Brown, "the name Christopher is worthy of remark. Columbus bore the same name. It means 'bearing Christ.' This was one of the ideas of the expedition.)”
Further, Newport not only commanded the expedition, but oversaw "the box" which contained the names of the first Virginia Councilors. Following the landing at Cape Henry, the box was opened to reveal the names of the Councilors of the first Council in Virginia--among them was Christopher Newport.
On December 20th, 1606, 104 settlers set sail from London on three ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. They are captained by Christopher Newport, Bartholomew Gosnold, and John Ratcliffe. Christopher Newport additional responsibilities gives him preview over all three (3) ships.
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