Wake County, NC - Bicentennial Edition - 1991 File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Barbara Kawamoto Reprinted with permission of the News & Observer and cannot be reproduced without permission. ‘Colonization was a Business Which He Undertook to Promote’ The News and Observer December 29, 1991 Raleigh 200/The New Capital By John D. Neville Was his name spelled Rawleyghe as he signed it once in 1578; Rauley as he signed it until 1583; or Ralegh as he signed it from 1584 until his death in 1618 ? The spelling preferred today is one he may never have used. Like the spelling and pronunciation of his name (is it Raley or Rolly ?), he was an enigma, a soldier whose failures were more notable than his successes, an adventurer who left his name on a land he never saw. He was born about 1554 at Hayes Barton in Devonshire. In 1569 he was in France fighting for the Huguenots. In 1572 he was at Oriel College, Oxford; and in 1575 he was at the Middle Temple, one of the Inns of Court. Then his career became exciting. He fought wars in France, privateered against the Spanish with his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert; fought in Ireland; and caught the fancy of Queen Elizabeth, becoming her favorite at court. On March 25, 1584, he received a patent from the Queen granting him title to any lands he might discover and claim in the name of the crown. On April 27, 1584, he sent out an expedition from Plymouth, commanded by Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe with the Portuguese Simon Fernandez as pilot. They arrived off the coast of what is now North Carolina on July 13, 1584, took possession of the area in the name of the queen, explored the region and returned to England, taking with them two young Indian men, Manteo and Wanchese. As a result of this expedition, Raleigh was knighted on January 6, 1585. Later in 1585, Sir Walter sent to America a military colony under Sir Richard Grenville. Capt. Ralph Lane was the governor, and the company that settled on Roanoke Island included John White and Thomas Harriot. The colonists gathered a great deal of information and explored as far north as the Chesapeake Bay; but in 1586 they returned to England with Sir Francis Drake. Disappointed, Raleigh in 1587 sent out a second colony, including women and children, with John White as its governor. The disappearance of this colony sometime after John White left it in August 1587 and before his return in 1590 is one of the great mysteries of history. The Roanoke Island colonies were not Sir Walter’s only colonial interests. In 1585, he became involved in a plantation in Munster, Ireland, where land had been confiscated from rebels. He also held land in County Waterford and in County Cork where he sent colonists in 1587, the same year he sent the second colony to Roanoke Island. According to David Beers Quinn in "Raleigh and the British Empire," Sir Walter was sincere, no doubt, in his desire to end a Spanish monopoly in the Americas for the good of Britain and future generations; but success also would have brought him personal wealth, prestige and power as the ruler, under the crown, of a huge area in America. According to Quinn, "He was an acute and hard-dealing businessman. Colonization was a business which he undertook to promote." At the height of his career, Sir Walter angered Queen Elizabeth by secretly marrying Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of her ladies in waiting. The Queen had them locked in the Tower. They were out by Christmas, but they remained exiled from court. In 1595, Raleigh led an expedition to the Orinoco River in Guyana on the northern coast of South America, hoping to discover the gold mines of the Incas and to drive a wedge into the Spanish empire. The trip was not a success, though the book he wrote on his adventure was. The next year he was one of the leaders of a massive armada that struck at Spain, in Cadiz. The English sank Spanish ships and sacked the town. Cadiz restored Sir Walter to Elizabeth’s favor. Under James I, Raleigh did not fare as well. Shortly after James’ accession, in 1603, he was convicted of plotting with the Spanish against the new Scottish king and was sentenced to be hanged, disemboweled, beheaded and quartered. At the last minute, he was reprieved and sentenced to life in the Tower. To pass the time, he conducted chemical experiments and wrote the first and only volume of his "Historie of the World." He had lost his rights to the New World; in 1607, other men founded a permanent colony, at Jamestown. The aging adventurer made one last attempt in America. In 1616 he was released from prison to the Orinoco, promising to return with gold for the improvident James. The king was by now heavily influenced by the Spanish, and Raleigh was instructed to give no offence to Spain. In Guyana, no gold was found and Raleigh attacked and burned a Spanish town. He returned to England to put up an eloquent defense, but execution awaited him. According to tradition, he showed no fear of the axe on October 29, 1618, and declined the blindfold saying, "Think you I fear the shadow of the axe when I fear not the axe itself?" His body was buried at St. Margaret’s, Westminster. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. 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