-
Period: 1554 to 1560
attended Oxford University
lane, born to Sir Ralph Lane and Maud Parr Lane of Northampton, attended Oxford University in 1554 and served in the English Parliament in late 1550s and early 1560s. -
1563
serving in Queen Elizabeth I’s court
. By 1563 Lane was serving in Queen Elizabeth I’s court, marking the beginning of a career of service to queen and country. -
1569
suppressed a rebellion in Scotland
Lane participated in a force that suppressed a rebellion in Scotland in 1569 where he gained accolades for his military skill. -
Period: 1570 to 1580
maritime affairs
By the early 1570s, Lane had involved himself in maritime affairs which included a queen’s commission to seize ships in 1571. By the late 1570s and early 1580s, he was developing plans and offering his services in helping England struggle with Spain. -
Ireland
In 1583, Lane received a commission to go to Ireland and direct the construction of forts. -
command of the colony
In 1585 the queen recalled Lane from Ireland and he was given command of the colony that Sir Walter Raleigh was organizing to sail to Virginia (Roanoke Island). -
Period: to
overall command
in April 1585, seven ships with about 600 men under the overall command of Sir Richard Grenville left England. After a storm scattered the fleet and reduced it to five ships, the company regrouped. They arrived at the Outer Banks by June. By August, the colony had come ashore and built a fort following an invitation from the Indians. Grenville’s fleet left at the end of August after being unable to secure a good harbor. -
fleet
On June 18 or 19, 1586, a fleet led by Sir Francis Drake left Roanoke carrying the first English colonists back home. -
Period: to
new found land
Lane was never involved in another colonization expedition but remained active in service to his county. He provided the foreword to Thomas Hariot’s Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (1588) and his account of the colony appeared in Richard Hakluyt’s Principal Navigations (1589). -
Period: to
muster master general
Lane was back in Ireland in 1592 serving as “muster master general” and “clerk of the check of the garrison” and remained in that country for the rest of his life. By 1601 Lane’s physical weakness had made him unfit as muster master. Lane died in Dublin, Ireland, in October 1603 and was buried at St. Patrick’s Church on the 28th of that month -
a professional soldier
served as governor of the first colony attempted by the English in America. At that time, the region that encompassed Sir Walter Raleigh’s land patent was called Virginia in honor of Queen Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen.