Person:Walter Raleigh (1)

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Sir Walter Ralegh (; – 29 October 1618), also spelled Raleigh, was an English statesman, soldier, writer, explorer, and a favourite courtier of the English Queen Elizabeth I. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion in Ireland, helped defend England during the Spanish Armada and held political positions under Elizabeth I.

Raleigh was born to a Protestant family in Devon, the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne. He was the younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and a cousin of Sir Richard Grenville. Little is known of his early life, though in his late teens he spent some time in France taking part in the religious civil wars. In his 20s he took part in the suppression of rebellion in the colonisation of Ireland; he also participated in the siege of Smerwick. Later, he became a landlord of property in Ireland and mayor of Youghal in East Munster, where his house still stands in Myrtle Grove. He rose rapidly in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585. He was granted a royal patent to explore Virginia, paving the way for future English settlements. In 1591, he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, without the Queen's permission, for which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of London. After his release, they retired to his estate at Sherborne, Dorset.

In 1594, Raleigh heard of a "City of Gold" in South America and sailed to find it, publishing an exaggerated account of his experiences in a book that contributed to the legend of "El Dorado". After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was again imprisoned in the Tower, this time for being involved in the Main Plot against King James I, who was not favourably disposed towards him. In 1616, he was released to lead a second expedition in search of El Dorado. During the expedition, men led by his top commander ransacked a Spanish outpost, in violation of both the terms of his pardon and the 1604 peace treaty with Spain. Raleigh returned to England and, to appease the Spanish, he was arrested and executed in 1618.

Raleigh, Sir Walter, son of Walter Raleigh, Esq., of Fardel, near Plymouth, and Katherine Campernoun, daughter of Sir Philip Campernoun, of Modbury, in Devonshire, and widow of Otho Gilbert, Esq., of Compton. He was born at Hayes Barton, in Devonshire, 1552; educated at Oriel College, Oxford, about 1568; served in France five years to assist the French Huguenots, returned to London in 1576; in 1758 went to the Netherlands under Sir John Norris to help the Dutch against the Spaniards; the following year engaged with his brother Sir Humphrey Gilbert in his American schemes and sailed in the Falcon, but the expedition was unfortunate and he soon returned; in 1580 he raised troops and took part in suppressing an insurrection in Ireland and received a grant there from Queen Elizabeth of 12,000 acres; furnished a ship to Sir Humphrey's second colonization expedition in 1583; interested in Adrian Gilbert's patent of the Northwest passage; obtained patent March 5, 1584, for planting a colony in America; sends Amidas and Barlow to America, April 27, 1584, who explored the coast of North Carolina; on their return the Queen named the country Virginia, in honor of herself; member of parliament for Devon, November 23, 1584, to September 14, 1585; his patent of colonization confirmed by parliament in December, 1584; grows in favor of the Queen and is knighted at Greenwich, January 1, 1585. About the same time he received the grant of a monopoly for the selling of wine throughout the kingdom, was made seneschal of the duchies of Cornwall and Exeter and lord warden of the Stannaries; pleased at the success of Amidas and Barlow, Raleigh sent seven hips under Sir Richard Grenville and 200 settlers under Capt. Ralph Lane, who occupied Roanoke Island, in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, August 17, 1585, but the colonists returned to England the following year in the fleet of Sir Francis Drake; member of parliament for Devon in 1586-87; during this time he was made captain of the Queen's Guard and member of the council of war; May 8, 1587, he sent another colony to Roanoke under Governor John White; in 1588 he was one of the captains of the English fleet who fought the Armada; assigned his interests in America to Thomas Smith and others in 1589, but aided in sending an expedition in 1591 to the relief of the colonists at Roanoke, who were never found; planned a voyage against Panama in 1592; married Elizabeth Throckmorton, and thereby incurred the anger of Queen Elizabeth, who imprisoned him in the tower of London; 1593, member of parliament for St. Michaels; when on a voyage to Guiana in 1595; took a prominent part in the taking of Cadiz in June, 1596; published an account of his voyage of 1595 to Guiana in 1596, and sent a voyage there under Captain Keymis, and another under Berry, 1596-97; in 1597 he sailed on the celebrated voyage to the Azores; member of parliament for Dorset 1597-98; governor and captain of Jersey, august 26, 1600; member of parliament for Cornwall, 1600-1601; sends Mace on a voyage to America and his nephew Bartholomew Gilbert, 1602; gives permission to Martin Pring to make a voyage in 1603; upon the accession of King James he lost his influence at Court, was stripped of his preferments, and accused, tried and condemned for high treason, as a participator in Lord Cobham's plot for placing Lady Arabella Stuart on the throne; was confined in the Tower from 1603 to January 30, 1616, during which time he wrote "The History of the World," down to the end of the Macedonian war, B. C. 167; in 1616 he was temporarily released by the King and sent to find a gold mine in Guiana; when he returned empty handed he was arrested on the complaint of the Spanish ambassador and sentenced to death, and executed October 29, 1619, on the verdict of the jury seventeen years before, now recognized to have ben based on charges trumped up by political enemies. He was buried in St. Margaret's, Westminster. he was the most accomplished gentleman of his age, and to him is due more than any other man the popularizing of colonization. He introduced into general use the potato, which he planted on his estate in Ireland, and tobacco, which he taught the courtiers to smoke. He left an only surviving son, Carew Raleigh, who was a member of the Virginia Company of London, April 2, 1623.

died 29 Oct 1618
citing Musgrave's Obituaries Prior to 1800, part 5