Ralph Lane Colony

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  • 1554

    English parliment

    attended Oxford University in 1554 and served in the English Parliament in late 1550s and early 1560s
  • 1563

    served in 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

    rebellion

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

    maritime affairs

    By the early 1570s, Lane had involved himself in maritime affairs which included a queen’s commission to seize ships in 1571.
  • 1575

    helping england

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

  • commision

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

  • organizing to sail to Virginia

    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).

  • Seven ships

    In April 1585, seven ships with about 600 men under the overall command of Sir Richard Grenville left England.

  • Principal Navigations

    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).

  • “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.

  • Lane’s physical weakness

    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.