John White () was an English colonial governor, explorer, artist, and cartographer. White was among those who sailed with

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 ...

in the first attempt to colonize

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 ...

in 1585, acting as artist and mapmaker to the expedition. He would most famously briefly serve as the governor of the second attempt to found

Roanoke Colony The establishment of the Roanoke Colony ( ) was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The English, led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had briefly claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, in 15 ...

on the same island in 1587 and discover the colonists had mysteriously vanished. During his time at

he made several watercolor sketches of the surrounding landscape and the native Algonkin peoples. These works are significant as they are the most informative illustrations of a Native American society of the Eastern seaboard; the surviving original watercolors are now preserved in the

print room A print room is a room in an art gallery or museum where a collection of old master and modern prints, usually together with drawings, watercolours, and photographs, are held and viewed. A further meaning is a room decorated by pasting prints ...

of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. In 1587, White became governor of

Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...

's failed attempt at a permanent settlement on Roanoke Island, known to history as the "

Lost Colony The establishment of the Roanoke Colony ( ) was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The English, led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had briefly claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, in 15 ...

". This was the earliest effort to establish a permanent English colony in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

. White's granddaughter

Virginia Dare Virginia Dare (born August 18, 1587, in Roanoke Colony, date of death unknown) was the first English child born in a New World English colony. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery. The fact of her birth is known be ...

was the first English child born in North America. In late 1587 White returned to England for supplies. The return expedition was delayed due to various reasons, including 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 ...

. Governor White finally returned to Roanoke Island in August 1590, but found the colony had been long deserted. After the failure of the colony, White retired to Raleigh's estates in Ireland, reflecting upon the "evils and unfortunate events" which had ruined his hopes in America, though never giving up hope that his daughter and granddaughter were still alive.

Early life

John White's exact date of birth is unknown but it seems likely he was born sometime in the 1530s–1540s.John White at ncpedia.org
Retrieved March 2011 White is known to have attended church in the parish of St. Martin Ludgate in London. In 1566, he married Tomasyn Cooper; with whom he had a son, Thomas, who died young, and a daughter,

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

. Little is known of White's training as an artist but it is possible that he apprenticed as an illustrator under a London master.

Career

In the late sixteenth century efforts to establish an English colony in the New World began to gain momentum, and White soon became an enthusiastic supporter. In 1577, White may have accompanied

Martin Frobisher Sir Martin Frobisher (; c. 1535 – 22 November 1594) was an English seaman and privateer who made three voyages to the New World looking for the North-west Passage. He probably sighted Resolution Island near Labrador in north-eastern Canada ...

to search for precious metals and a northwest passage to Asia on his

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...

and

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

expeditions. Despite this, White was not mentioned by name. His drawings from this period were of the lands and people encountered on the voyage. In 1585, White accompanied the expedition led by Sir

Ralph Lane Sir Ralph Lane (c. 1532 – October 1603)
Boston: Directors of the Old South Work, 1902, ''Documenting the America ...

to attempt to found the first English colony in North America. White was sent by

as Sir

's artist-illustrator on his first voyage to the

; working closely with the scientist

Thomas Harriot Thomas Harriot (; – 2 July 1621), also spelled Harriott, Hariot or Heriot, was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer and translator to whom the theory of refraction is attributed. Thomas Harriot was also recognized for his cont ...

, he served as mapmaker and artist to the expedition, which encountered considerable difficulties and returned to England in 1586.

Gentleman artist

In 1585 White had been commissioned to "draw to life" the inhabitants of the New World and their surroundings.Article in Smithsonian Magazine by Abigal Tucker, December 2008
Retrieved March 2011 During White's time at Roanoke Island, he completed numerous watercolor drawings of the surrounding landscape and native peoples. These works are significant as they are the most informative illustrations of a Native American society of the Eastern seaboard, and predate the first body of "discovery voyage art" created in the late 18th century by the artists who sailed with Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

. They represent the sole-surviving visual record of the native inhabitants of America encountered by England's first settlers. White's enthusiasm for

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

was unusual – most contemporary painters preferred to use oil-based paints.Milton, p.199 White's watercolors would soon become a sensation in Europe; it was not long before the watercolors were

engraved Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

by the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

master engraver

Theodor de Bry Theodor de Bry (also Theodorus de Bry) (152827 March 1598) was an engraver, goldsmith, Editing, editor and publisher, famous for his depictions of early European colonization of the Americas, European expeditions to the Americas. The Spanish Inq ...

.Milton, p.200 Through the medium of print, the illustrations became widely known and distributed; they were published in 1590 under the title ''America''.

Governor of the Roanoke colony

After Lane's colonists returned to England in 1586,

, who held the

land patent A land patent is a form of letters patent assigning official ownership of a particular tract of land that has gone through various legally-prescribed processes like surveying and documentation, followed by the letter's signing, sealing, and publi ...

for the proposed English

colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

, tasked White with the job of organising a new settlement in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

area, one which would be self-sustaining and which would include women and children. During 1586 White was able to persuade 113 prospective colonists to join Raleigh's expedition, including his daughter

and his son-in-law

Ananias Dare Ananias Dare (c. 1560 – 1587, ''legal death'') was a colonist of the Roanoke Colony of 1587. He was the husband of Eleanor White, whom he married at St Bride's Church in London, and the father of Virginia Dare, the first English child bor ...

, recently married at

St Bride's Church St Bride's Church is a church in the City of London, England. The building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672 in Fleet Street in the City of London, though Wren's original building was largely gutted by fire d ...

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

. His efforts did not go unrewarded; on 7 January 1587, Raleigh named "John White of London Gentleman, to be the chief Governor" of the new colony. White, with thirteen others, were incorporated under the name of "The Governor and Assistants of the Cities of Raleigh of Virginia".

Arrival at Roanoke

In May 1587 White's colonists sailed for Virginia in the ''Lion''. They were guided by the Portuguese navigator Simon Fernandez, the same pilot who had led the 1585 expedition and who was given by his fellow sailors the unhappy nickname of "the swine." The settlers' chosen destination was not Roanoke but the

. But, upon reaching Roanoke in late July, and allowing the colonists to disembark, Fernandez refused to let White's men re-board the ship. According to White's journal, Fernandez's deputy "called to the sailors in the pinesse, charging them not to bring any of the planters ettlersback againe, but leave them on the island."Milton, p.215 Faced with what amounted to a

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

by his navigator, White appears to have backed down and acquiesced in this sudden change of plan. Despite the governor's protests, Fernandez held that "summer was farre spent ummer was almost over wherefore hee would land all the planters in no other place." This second colony at Roanoke set about repairing the structures left behind in 1585. They also searched for the fifteen men left behind by the previous expedition, but found only bones. From an early stage there were tensions with the local Algonkin Indians, though initially things went well. White quickly made contact with friendly natives led by Chief Manteo, who explained to him that the lost fifteen had been killed by hostile

Secotan The Secotans were one of several groups of American Indians dominant in the Carolina sound region, between 1584 and 1590, with which English colonists had varying degrees of contact. Secotan villages included the Secotan, Aquascogoc, Dasamonguep ...

Aquascogoc The Aquascogoc is the name given to a Native American tribe of Secotan people and also the name of a village encountered by English colonists during their late 16th century attempts to settle and establish permanent colonies in what is now Nor ...

, and

Dasamongueponke The Dasamongueponke (or Dasamonguepeuk) is the name given to a Native American tribe of Secotan people and also the name of a village encountered by the English during their late 16th century attempts to settle and establish permanent colonies ...

warriors, choosing a time and place of attack "of great advantage to the savages." On 8 August 1587, White led a dawn attack on the Dasamongueponkes that went disastrously wrong. White and his soldiers entered the Dasamongueponke village in the morning "so early that it was yet dark," but mistakenly attacked a group of hitherto friendly Indians, killing one and wounding many. "We were deceaved," wrote White in his journal, "for the savages were our friendes." Henceforth, relations with the local tribes would steadily deteriorate.

Virginia Dare

On 18 August 1587, there was happier news – White became a grandfather. "Eleanor, daughter to the governor and wife to Ananias Dare, one of the assistants, was delivered of a daughter in Roanoke."Milton, p.239 The child was healthy and "was christened there the Sunday following, and because this child was the first Christian born in Virginia, she was named Virginia."

White returns to England

However, the colonists' food supplies soon began to grow short, and in late 1587 the settlers pressed White to return to England "for the better and sooner obtaining of supplies, and other necessaries." Because the colony had been deposited in Roanoke rather than the

Chesapeake Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...

area, supply ships from England ignorant of Fernandez's change of plan would most likely not land in Roanoke at all, and the settlement might not survive the coming winter. White was reluctant to abandon his colony, anxious that his enemies in England "would not spare to slander imfalsely" should he leave,Milton, p.241 and worried that his "stuff and goods might be spoiled and most of it pilfered away." Eventually the colonists agreed to stand surety for White's belongings and he was prevailed upon to sail, "much against his will," to seek help. Misfortune struck White's return to England from the beginning. The anchor of the

flyboat The flyboat (also spelled fly-boat or fly boat) was a European light vessel of Dutch origin developed primarily as a mercantile cargo carrier, although many served as warships in an auxiliary role because of their agility. These vessels could displa ...

on which White was quartered could not be raised, and many crew members were severely injured during the attempt. Worse, their journey home was delayed by "scarce and variable winds" followed by "a storm at the north-east," and many sailors starved or died of scurvy. On 16 October 1587 the desperate crew, at last, landed in Smerwicke, in the west of Ireland, and White was finally able to make his way back to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Spanish Armada

Further bad news awaited White on his return to England. Just two weeks previously

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

had issued a general "stay of shipping," preventing any ships from leaving English shores.Milton, p.247 The reason was the "invincible fleetes made by the King of Spain, joined with the power of the Pope, for the invading of England" – the

. White's patron

attempted to provide ships to rescue the colony but he was over-ruled by the Queen.

''Brave'' and the ''Roe''

In early 1588 White was able to scrape together a pair of small

pinnace Pinnace may refer to: * Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things * Full-rigged pinnace The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth ...

s, the ''Brave'' and the ''Roe'', which were unsuitable for military service and could be spared for the expedition to Roanoke. Unluckily for White, they were barely suited for the Atlantic crossing and the governor endured further bad luck as the ships were intercepted by French

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, who "playd extreemely upon us with their shot," hitting White (to his great embarrassment) "in the side of the buttoke." White and his crew escaped to England with their lives, but "they robbed us of all our victuals, powder, weapons and provision," and the journey to Virginia had to be abandoned.Milton, p.250 By this stage White appears to have formed the view that he was born under "an unlucky star."

Return to the "Lost Colony"

Finally, in March 1590, with the immediate threat of a Spanish invasion by now abated, Raleigh was able to equip White's rescue expedition. Two ships, the ''Hopewell'' and the ''Moonlight'' set sail for Roanoke. The return journey was prolonged by extensive

privateering A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

and several sea battles, and White's eventual landing at the

Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating ...

was further imperiled by poor weather. The landing was hazardous and was beset by bad conditions and adverse currents. During the landing on Roanoke, of the mariners who accompanied White, "seven of the chiefest were drowned." Governor White finally reached Roanoke Island on 18 August 1590, his granddaughter's third birthday, but he found his colony had been long deserted. The buildings had collapsed and "the houses eretaken downe."Milton, p.265 The few clues about the colonists' whereabouts included the letters "CRO" carved into a tree, and the word "

CROATOAN Croatoan may refer to: * Croatoan Island (now ''Hatteras Island'') on the Outer Banks of North Carolina * Croatan tribe, alternately spelled "Croatoan" *The word "Croatoan", found carved into a tree on Roanoke Island at the site of the Lost Colony ...

" carved on a post of the fort. Croatoan was the name of a nearby

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

(likely modern-day

Hatteras Island Hatteras Island (historically Croatoan Island) is a barrier island located off the North Carolina coast. Dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound, it runs parallel to the coast, forming a bend at Cape Hatteras. It is part of North Carol ...

) and of a local tribe of Native Americans. Roanoke Island was originally not a planned location for the colony and the idea of moving elsewhere had been discussed. Before the Governor's departure, he and the colonists had agreed that a message would be carved into a tree if they had moved and would include an image of a

Maltese Cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...

if the decision was made by force. White found no such cross and was hopeful that his family were still alive.Milton, p.266 True to their word, the colonists had looked after White's belongings, which had been carefully buried and hidden. However, local Indians had looted the hiding place, and White found "about the place many of my things spoyled and broken, and my books torne from the covers, the frames of some of my pictures and mappes rotten and spoyled with rayne, and my armour almost eaten through with rust." Due to the weather, which "grew to be fouler and fouler,"Milton, p.268 White had to abandon the search of adjacent islands for the colonists. The ship's captain had already lost three anchors and could not afford the loss of another. White returned to

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 ...

, England, on 24 October 1590. The loss of the colony was a personal tragedy for White, from which he never fully recovered. He would never return to the New World, and in a letter to

Richard Hakluyt Richard Hakluyt (; 1553 – 23 November 1616) was an English writer. He is known for promoting the English colonization of North America through his works, notably ''Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America'' (1582) and ''The Pri ...

he wrote that he must hand over the fate of the colonists and his family "to the merciful help of the Almighty, whom I most humbly beseech to helpe and comfort them."

Later life

Little is known of White's life after the failure of the Roanoke Colony. He lived in

, and also owned a house at Newtown, Kylmore (Kilmore,

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

), Ireland. He appears to have been in Ireland living on the estates of Sir Walter Raleigh, making maps of land for Raleigh's tenants, and reflecting upon the "evils and unfortunate events" which had ruined his hopes in the New World, though never giving up hope that his daughter and granddaughter were still alive. The last surviving document related to White is a letter he wrote from Ireland in 1593 to the publisher of the

prints In molecular biology, the PRINTS database is a collection of so-called "fingerprints": it provides both a detailed annotation resource for protein families, and a diagnostic tool for newly determined sequences. A fingerprint is a group of conserve ...

of his Roanoke drawings. However, a record from May 1606 that Bridget White, who was appointed estate administrator for her brother "John White", may refer to him.

Legacy

White is chiefly remembered today for his watercolors, which represent a unique record of 16th-century Algonquian society. All of White's surviving works are now in the

of the

. In 2007, the British Museum placed the entire group of John White's watercolors on public display under the collection, "''A New World: England's First View of America''." There are more than seventy watercolors in the travelling exhibit. There were plans to show the collection at the

North Carolina Museum of History The North Carolina Museum of History is a history museum located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It is an affiliate through the Smithsonian Affiliations program. The museum is a part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives ...

. The

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

was named in his honor.

In popular culture

* In the sixth season of ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the '' American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...

'', White is mentioned in the third episode.

Kathy Bates Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actor and director. Known for her roles in comedic and dramatic films and television programs, she has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, includ ...

portrays Tomasyn "The Butcher" White, his fictional wife and regent-governor while he is away getting supplies from England.

Wes Bentley Wesley Cook Bentley is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Ricky Fitts in '' American Beauty'' (1999), which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Supporting Actor; Seneca Crane in ''The Hunger Games'' (2012); Doyle i ...

portrays John and Tomasyn's son,

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...

Gallery

File:North carolina algonkin-dorf.jpg, Watercolour painted by John White File:North carolina algonkin-essen.jpg, Engraving by Theodor de Bry after a watercolour painted by John White File:North carolina algonkin-essen01.jpg, Clay pot of North Carolina Algonquins used for boiling. File:North carolina algonkin-essen02.jpg, Equipment for curing fish used by the North Carolina Algonquins. File:North carolina algonkin-kleidung01.jpg, Woman of the Secotan-Indians in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by John White in 1585. File:North carolina algonkin-kleidung02.jpg, Man of the Secotan Indians in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by John White in 1585. File:North carolina algonkin-kleidung04.jpg, Mother and child of the Secotan Indians in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by John White in 1585. File:North carolina algonkin-kleidung08.jpg, Warrior of the Secotan Indians in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by John White in 1585. File:North carolina algonkin-rituale01.jpg, Ceremony of Secotan warriors in North Carolina. Watercolour painted by John White in 1585. File:North carolina algonkin-fischen.jpg, Engraving by Theodor de Bry after a watercolour painted by John White File:An old man in his winter clothes (1590).jpg, An aged Native man from Pomeiock, full-length portrait, facing front, wearing winter garment; landscape scene with village in the background.

References

External links

NCpedia biography of John White
Retrieved March 2011
British Museum article on John White and his paintings
Retrieved March 2011

This link includes a map.

Retrieved March 2011

Retrieved April 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:White, John 1540s births 1590s deaths 16th-century English artists English cartographers English male artists English surveyors People of the Roanoke Colony Scientific illustrators