| 1584 |
April-July |
Walter
Raleigh funds an expeditionary voyage from Plymouth to America to
investigate whether it would be possible to set up a colony. |
| |
13 July |
The ships land.
The officers meet the brother of the chieftain of Roanoke Island. |
| |
September |
The company returns
to England. They take back several items, including skins and pearls.
They also take back two Amerindians called Manteo and Wanchese. This
generates interest and support for another expedition. |
| 1585 |
9 April |
Five ships and
two pinnaces carrying the first settlers set sail from Plymouth. The
expedition is led by Sir Richard Grenville. |
| |
26 June |
The company lands
in America and spends the next month searching for a suitable place
to establish a settlement. |
| |
End of July |
A colony is established
on Roanoke Island. Ralph Lane is made Governor. |
| |
Summer |
Relations with
the Amerindians are good and the settlers receive a lot of help from
them. |
| |
|
Grenville leaves
the settlement and returns to England for supplies. |
| |
Autumn and winter |
Relations with
the Amerindians start to deteriorate. The Amerindians no longer help
supply the colony with food and the settlement is attacked. |
| |
|
Grenville arrives
back in England but his return with supplies is delayed. |
| 1586 |
Winter and spring |
Food is scarce.
Lane sends parties to the coast and to the mainland to live on shellfish
and to look for any ships. |
| |
January |
Elizabeth I agrees
to the naming of the new land as Virginia. She knights Raleigh, making
him 'Lord and Governor of Virginia'. |
| |
June |
A fleet of 23
ships led by Sir Francis Drake is spotted off the coast. Drake offers
to give Lane and the settlers fresh supplies and a number of ships
or passage back to England. Lane initially accepts the first offer.
However, a storm blows many ships out to sea. The settlers decide
to return to England. |
| |
August |
A relief ship
sent by Raleigh arrives at Roanoke. It finds the settlement deserted
and returns to England. |
| |
|
Three ships,
led by Grenville, arrive in Virginia. They search for the settlers.
Grenville leaves behind 15 men and enough supplies to last two years.
Nobody knows what happened to these men. |
| 1587 |
|
Sir Walter Raleigh
organises another expedition. This time, women and children are allowed
to make the voyage. |
| |
8 May |
The expedition
sets off from Plymouth. |
| |
22-25 July |
The ships arrive
at Roanoke. They discover that the fort has been destroyed. Relations
with the native Amerindians are not very friendly. |
| |
August |
A group of friendly
Croatoan Amerindians accuse the Roanoke Amerindians of killing the
15 men left by Grenville. The settlers decide to get revenge by attacking
the town of Dasamonquepeuc. However, the Roanoke Indians have fled
and it is the Croatoans who are attacked. |
| |
18 August |
The first child
of English parents is born in the settlement. The baby girl is called
'Virginia'. |
| |
27 August |
Governor White
sets sail for England to obtain more supplies. |
| |
|
Nobody knows
what happened to the colony after this date. |
| 1590 |
20 March |
The threat of
the Spanish Armada and continuing hostilities with the Spanish means
that White is not able to organise a return journey until now. |
| |
August |
The supply ships
reach Hatoraske, a harbour near Roanoke, and start to look for the
settlers. |
| |
|
At Roanoke, the
party finds the word CROATOAN carved on a tree. White decides that
the settlers must have moved to Croatoan. He also decides that they
must not have been in any danger as there was no cross carved near
the name - the sign that White had agreed with the settlers before
he left. |
| |
|
White tries to
get to Croatoan but bad weather forces him to abandon the mission. |
| 1592 |
|
Sir Walter Raleigh
is imprisoned for marrying without the Queen's permission. |
| 1602 |
|
Raleigh sends
a final expedition to try to establish a colony at Roanoke. It fails
and the settlers return to England. |
| 1607 |
|
The first successful
colony at Jamestown is established. |
