Tobacco is native to the Americas and the Carribean. It exists as an introduced plant in England and mainland Europe, but is not native there. (See http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/flora.php?menuentry=soorten&id=3379) Tobacco was brought back from the New World by explorers a little before 1500, originally showing up in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The first reports of tobacco in England are in the 1560s. (The "Precolumbian America" section of http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1079499/ has a good overview.)

What you may be thinking of is John Rolfe, an Englishman, introducing Nicotiana tabacum to Virginia, as a superior species to the local Nicotiana rustica. Although he came from England, the strain of tobacco came from the Carribean -- the plant is native there and in South America. (See http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/jamestown/charles-mann-text, http://www.preservationvirginia.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=27, and http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404705547.html.)

Anyway, I'm glad it amused you.