Ralph Lane Colony

By Danny Duncan
  • 1554

    1554

    Lane, born to Sir Ralph Lane and Maud Parr Lane of North hampton, attended Oxford University
  • 1558

    1558

    served in the English Parliament in late 1550s and early 1560s.
  • 1563

    1563

    By 1563 Lane was serving in Queen Elizabeth I’s court, marking the beginning of a career of service to queen and country.
  • 1569

    1569

    Lane participated in a force that suppressed a rebellion in Scotland in 1569 where he gained accolades for his military skill.
  • 1571

    1571

    Lane had involved himself in maritime affairs which included a queen’s commission to seize ships in 1571.
  • 1579

    1579

    By the late 1570s and early 1580s, he was developing plans and offering his services in helping England struggle with Spain.

  • 1583

    In 1583, Lane received a commission to go to Ireland and direct the construction of forts.

  • 1585

    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). Raleigh evidently personally invited Lane to command the land expedition. The company was organized as a military expedition

  • 1586

    On June 18 or 19, 1586, a fleet led by Sir Francis Drake left Roanoke carrying the first English colonists back home.

  • 1592

    ane 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.

  • 1601

    By 1601 Lane’s physical weakness had made him unfit as muster master.

  • 1603

    Lane died in Dublin, Ireland, in October 1603 and was buried at St. Patrick’s Church on the 28th of that month.