Bideford councillor and author Andy Powell
Wednesday, 19 January, 2011
13:37 PM
- Andy’s 75,000-word publication Grenville and The Lost Colony of Roanoke is due to be launched in Bideford on February 19 and in America in April. The book features one of the most popular mysteries of America, the fate of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. It also examines the pivotal role played by Bideford’s famous son Sir Richard Grenville and sets the question whether people from Bideford were among the first founders of America, more than 30 years before the Pilgrim Fathers set sail. There are also insights into Bideford’s role in the vanquishing of the Spanish Armada, the origin of the so called Armada Cannons in Victoria Park and a fascinating biography of Sir Richard Grenville. Andy’s interest was first sparked in the council chamber by a visitor from the North Carolina bearing gifts from a “twin” town, Manteo. Keen to re-establish a link apparently lost for 25 years, Andy went on to become instrumental in the completion of a formal “twinning” charter between the two towns. During his first visit to America in 2008 Andy was interested why two towns so widely divided should have such an affinity. That started three-and-a-half years of research, which finally led him to discover the extraordinary story of the Roanoke Colonies and the 119 men, women and children, who three years after landing on Roanoke in 1587, vanished to become one of America’s greatest mysteries. In his book, Andy has gone back to the earliest transcripts in his efforts to get to the bottom of the mystery and discovered that Sir Richard Grenville played a pivotal role in what was originally the enterprise of his cousin Sir Walter Raleigh. He also raises the possibility that many of these early settlers may have been in the employ of Grenville and thus from the Bideford area. He also provides evidence that they may not have been lost, but assimilated into the local Native American people. However, by including in his book modern transcriptions of the original accounts, he leaves his readers with the opportunity to make up their own minds cont. here: http://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/news/book_examines_bideford_s_role_inamerican_mystery_1_778424 This blog is © History Chasers Click here to view all recent Lost Colony Research Group Blog posts
