North Carolina’s Governors I
KALPII LANE.
Elizabeth I reigned in England dur¬
ing the golden age of exploration and
discovery. The greatest discovery of
all was the new continent of America.
An expedition under Philip Aniadas
and Arthur Barlow sailed from Eng¬
land in April, 1584, and returned the
following September with glowing ac¬
counts of the land and its inhabitants.
Among Elizabeth's favorite courtiers
was Sir Walter Raleigh, to whom she
granted a patent for settling the new
territory. Raleigh organized an expe¬
dition, under the command of Sir Rich¬
ard Grenville, for exploration and
settlement. As lieutenant governor, he
appointed Ralph Lane, who had re¬
cently returned from a tour of duty
with the British army in Ireland. Lane,
a native of Northamptonshire. Eng¬
land, was born around 1530.
Grenville and Lane with 108 colon¬
ists sailed from Plymouth in April,
1585. The fleet of seven ships reached
Hatteras in July and landed at Roa¬
noke Island in August. Shortly there¬
after Grenville and Lane disagreed and
the former returned to England. Lane
assumed command of the colony and
thus became the first governor. His
authority was unlimited. The colony
was governed on a semi-military basis;
no individual grants of land were made
1585-1580
and the colonists worked as the paid
servants of Governor Lane. A fort,
named for Raleigh, and a few dwell¬
ings were constructed, but most of the
time was spent in searching for gold
and in exploring for a passage to the
South Seas. Few crops were planted
and practically no provision was made
for the winter. In the following June,
Sir Francis Drake arrived with his fleet
and anchored off the coast. Drake of¬
fered to return the dissatisfied settlers
to England. Fear of famine, threats
from hostile Indians, as well as the
poor location of the settlement, de¬
cided the colonists. Agreeing to aban¬
don the colony, Lane and his group
accepted Drake’s offer and returned
home.
Apparently Lane lost interest in
colonization for he returned to his
career of soldiering, serving as a
colonel in Drake's expedition against
Portugal. Some years later he fought
against the Irish rebels and died in
that country1 in 1603.
ТЫ»
nut. rill It r. printed from Belli Crabtree,
"North Carolina Go.ernon, 158$ • 1*5*. Brief
Sletehe*" <137 pace.). For a top» «rite the pub¬
lisher, Stale Department of Archl«e. and Hittor».
Во»
1881. Raleigh, N. C.. and enclose 51.50.
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THE STATE. MAY 28. I960
1 S
