Sir Ralph Lane (c. 1532 – October 1603)
Boston: Directors of the Old South Work, 1902, ''Documenting the American South'', University of North Carolina Library, accessed 17 January 2010 was an English explorer of the

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

. He helped colonise the

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label=Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from ...

in 1583 and was sheriff of

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, Ireland, from 1583 to 1585. He was part of the unsuccessful attempt in 1585 to colonise

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 ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. He was knighted by the Queen in 1593.

Early life and education

According to the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', his parents were Sir Ralph Lane of

Orlingbury Orlingbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire. It is between the towns of Kettering and Wellingborough. Administratively it forms part of North Northamptonshire but was in the borough of Wellingborough until ...

Hogshaw Hogshaw is a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It comprises the two ancient villages of Hogshaw and Fulbrook, although they no longer have an individual identity. It is in the Aylesbury Vale, between East Cl ...

and

Horton Horton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Horton Glacier, Adelaide Island, Antarctica * Horton Ledge, Queen Elizabeth Land, Antarctica Australia * Horton, Queensland, a town and locality in the Bundaberg Region * Horton River (Australia), ...

, a brother of

Maud Lane Maud Lane born Magdalen (Maud) Parr became Matilda or Maud, Lady Lane (1507 – 1558) was an English courtier. She was the cousin of Katherine Parr and she became her courtier and supporter of the new Church of England religion. Life She was th ...

and a cousin of

Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...

, the last queen consort of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. Lane's seal bore the arms of Lane of Horton (Cal State Papers Ireland 15 March 1598–9), and the arms assigned him by Burke quarter these with those of Maud Parr (General Armoury). In his correspondence, he speaks of nephews William and Robert Lane (Cal State Papers Ireland 26 Dec 1592, 7 June 1595), of a kinsman John Durrant (ib) and is associated with a Mr Feilding (ib 23 June 1593), all of whom appear in the Lane pedigree (Blore Hist. and Antig. of Rutlandshire p 169). William Feilding married Dorothy Lane, a daughter of Sir Ralph Lane of Horton, and John Durrant was the husband of Catherine, her first cousin."

Career

Lane was made

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Higham Ferrers Higham Ferrers is a market town and civil parish in the Nene Valley in North Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single built-up area with Rushden to the south and has an estimated populati ...

in 1556. The choice was surprising, though it may be explained by the connections Lane had in the area, including with the

Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respon ...

as well as his London residence, intended to be less costly than if he had served from Higham Ferrers itself. Lane began serving

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

in 1563 as an

equerry An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...

under

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 ...

. His duties as an officer of the Royal Household included law enforcement and collection of customs duties. He served against the northern rebels in 1569, was commissioner of piracy in 1571 and a captain in the Netherlands in 1572–3. He was elected

for

in 1558 and for

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

in 1563.

Roanoke colony

Lane is best remembered for his attempt to establish a settlement on Roanoke Island at the request 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 ...

. Queen Elizabeth was looking for places to colonise and the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

appeared ripe for English expansion. The voyage began on 9 April 1585, when Lane set sail from

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 Raleigh's cousin,

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 ...

, a sailor who upon return to England wrote a book about his findings in the Chesapeake. The fleet comprised the ''Tiger'' (Grenville's), the ''Roebuck'', the ''Red Lion'', the ''Elizabeth'', and the ''Dorothy''. The voyage on the ''Tiger'' proved difficult, as Lane quarrelled with the aggressive leadership of Grenville, whom he found a person of "intolerable pride and insatiable ambition". Unfortunately, during a severe storm off the coast of Portugal, the ''Tiger'' was separated from the rest of the fleet. '' The Tiger'' arrived on 11 May to Baye's Muskito (

Guayanilla, Puerto Rico Guayanilla (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located on the southern coast of the island, bordering the Caribbean Sea, south of Adjuntas, east of Yauco; and west of Peñuelas and about west of Ponce. Guayanilla is spread over 16 ...

). While waiting for the other ships, Grenville established relations with the Spanish (whilst at the same time participating in privateering against their ships) and also built a small fortress. The ''Elizabeth'' arrived shortly after construction of the fortress. Finally, Grenville grew tired of waiting for the remaining ships and departed on 7 June. The fort was abandoned and its location is now unknown. When the ''Tiger'' sailed through the

Ocracoke Inlet Ocracoke Inlet ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

on 26 June, she ran aground on a sand bank, ruining most of the food supply. The expedition managed to repair the ship, and in early July met the ''Roebuck'' and ''Dorothy'', which had come to 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 ...

a few weeks earlier. The ''Red Lion'' had accompanied them, but simply landed its passengers and sailed to Newfoundland for privateering. After an initial exploration of the continental coast and its Indian settlements, Grenville accused the natives of one village

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 No ...

of stealing a silver cup and in retaliation looted and burned the village. Despite this incident and the shortage of food, Lane and 107 other settlers were left on

, Virginia, on 17 August 1585 to establish a colony on its north end. They built a small fort, probably similar to the one at Guayanilla Bay, but Lane and Grenville fell out with each other, a foretaste of the troubles that dogged the colony until the end. In the bitter correspondence with London that was to ensue, Lane was described as vain, boastful, and fiery-tempered, brooking little opposition. Almost immediately, Grenville and his crew set sail for England, promising to return in April 1586 with more men and fresh supplies. Contact was quickly made with the local Native Americans. The English treated them with suspicious harshness; on several occasions the colonists kidnapped Indians to extort supplies or extract information. Lane's military background led him to rely more upon arms than diplomacy, and that approach soured his dealings with the natives from the start. April 1586 passed with no news of Grenville. In June, the incident of the stolen cup led to a retaliatory attack against the fort that the settlers were able to repel. Also in June,

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 ( ...

arrived at Roanoke and offered Lane and his men a return voyage to England, which Lane readily accepted because of a weakened food supply and increased tensions with local tribes. Drake's fleet reached

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 28 July, at which the settlers of Roanoke introduced

snuff Snuff may refer to: Tobacco * Snuff (tobacco), fine-ground tobacco, sniffed into the nose ** Moist snuff or dipping tobacco ** Creamy snuff, an Indian tobacco paste Media and entertainment * Snuff film, a type of film that shows a murder Literat ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, and

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es to England. ''The Account of Ralph Lane'' first appeared in Richard Hakluyt's ''Principall Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation'' in 1589. The Grenville relief fleet arrived shortly after Drake's departure with the settlers. Finding the colony abandoned, Grenville returned to England with the bulk of his force, leaving behind a small detachment to maintain a British presence and protect Raleigh's claim to Virginia. Lane later participated in other expeditions. In January 1592 he was appointed muster-master general of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

the following year by Sir William FitzWilliam, the

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...

Death

In 1594, Lane was severely wounded during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

in Ireland. He never fully recovered and died in 1603 at

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, where he was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Ralph 1530 births 1603 deaths English explorers of North America English MPs 1558 English MPs 1563–1567 People of Elizabethan Ireland People of the Roanoke Colony

Early life and education

Career

Roanoke colony

Death

See also

References