James Erisey was born at Erisey House near Mullion, in the parish of Grade in Cornwall. He sailed as a privateer with Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...

. In 1585 Drake hired James Erisey to captain a man-o-war, following a message from Queen Elizabeth I that "privateers were at liberty to attack Spanish shipping". In 1586 he was again part of a fleet led by Drake. He was also one of the early colonists of

Roanoke Island Roanoke Island () is an island in Dare County, North Carolina, Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke (tribe), Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the ar ...

. Erisey was captain of the "White Lion", a private warship owned by Charles Lord Howard of Effingham, who at the time was Lord Admiral of England. In 1588 he was at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

with Drake when they sailed out to fight the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

invasion fleet. Also in Drake's fleet was

Sir Richard Grenville Sir Richard Grenville (15 June 1542 – 10 September 1591), also spelt Greynvile, Greeneville, and Greenfield, was an English privateer and explorer. Grenville was lord of the manors of Stowe, Cornwall and Bideford, Devon. He subsequently ...

, who was Erisey's cousin.

References

*Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries, a quarterly journal, #22,(1942–1946)

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20010424210504/http://www.multiracial.com/readers/hashaw.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20061212082410/http://bz.llano.net/gowen/electronic_newsletter/el200012.htm Origin of the

Melungeons Melungeons ( ) are an ethnicity from the Southeastern United States who descend from Demographics of Europe, Europeans, Native Americans in the United States, Native American, and sub-Saharan Africans brought to America as indentured servants and ...

16th-century English people Explorers from Cornwall People from Cornwall Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{England-mil-bio-stub