Everything is Relative

Everything is Relative
By Jennifer Sheppard
Certificate in Genealogy
Professional Research Option
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT, USA

Grenville

and the

Lost Colony of Roanoke

By Andrew Thomas Powell

Mr. Powell is in the distinctive position to have written this book as he not only lives in England but is the retired Mayor of Bideford with access to never before published information regarding the voyages. He also possesses first hand knowledge of “Croatoan” having spent time where the colonists were said to have settled. This gives him a unique perspective on America’s greatest unsolved mystery.

I must confess, household chores and the like suffered greatly while I was reading this book because it was virtually impossible to put down! This work is concisely written, easy to read, brilliantly shared and exciting to say the least.

The introduction of the book sums it up beautifully, from which I quote: “The story of the first attempt to colonise America by the English nation is a story of extraordinary courage, despair, misfortune, joy and simple wonder……..prepare for an adventure no Hollywood producer could hope to conjure in their wild-est dreams, and remember, as you read, that this is a true story.”

Mr. Powell leads us step by step, through the entire sequence of events undertaken to plant a permanent English settlement in what was to become the USA. He begins his book with a short biography of Sir Ri-chard Grenville, the “unsung hero” that is “unsung” no more. Some may not be aware that Grenville made more than one voyage to what was to become America and also served as “onetime Lord of the Manor of Bideford and was almost exclusively known for being the subject of an Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem…..”

Next, Andrew Powell covers “The Voyage of Amadas and Barlowe 1584 and The Voyage of Grenville 1585.” He moves on to include The Military Colony of 1585, Parts One and Two. Then he covers the “Voyages of 1586, The “Planters’ Colony of 1587,” “The Voyages of 1588,” “The deposition of Pedro Diaz 1585-1589,” “Raleigh’s Assignment of 1589,” and ends the transcriptions with “The Voyage of 1590. Subsequently he includes information unknown to have been published on the “ships and captains of Eng-land” involved in these voyages, without whose participation this amazing adventure would not have been possible.

And last but not least, Mr. Powell shares his own thoughts and analysis on “The Colonists,” including the types of expertise the people considered for this exploration, would have had to possess in order to survive and to thrive in their new lives in an unknown wilderness.

In the next chapter “Questions, Answers; Answers, Questions, he summarizes the “If Only’s’” revealing the possible “near misses” and “close encounters” that may have designated Croatoan as the first permanent English settlement in America rather than Jamestown. Mr. Powell ends his work with “The Hunt for The Lost Colony” wherein he provides never before published information uncovered by The Lost Colony Re-search Group, the Croatoan Archaeological Society, Professor Mark Horton of Bristol University and the author himself, Andrew Powell.

The footnotes containing detailed explanations of unfamiliar terms and words, found in the transcription of the original documents, are invaluable and much appreciated by the reader. This enables the reader to understand obsolete terms/words found in the journals he meticulously transcribed. As a genealogist who insists on working with primary sources whenever possible, this is certainly a plus and the fact that it is a true and accurate account of what actually happened make it a terrific read.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the study of the so called “Lost Colony” and to those who truly enjoy reading a good non-fiction story which just happens to be some heretofore unknown history of what would one day become the United States of America!

The book is 302 pages, measures 8 X 5 inches, ISBN-10: 1848765967; ISBN-13: 978-1848765962 (Trou-bador Publishing Ltd © 2011, 5 Weir Road, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicester, LE8 OLQ, WW.TROUBADOR.CO.UK). The book is also available at www.amazon.com for $16.78.



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Grenville and the Lost Colony of Roanoke is now shipping

Andrew Thomas Powell will be in the states visiting in April. He will be speaking at the Hatteras Island Genealogy Society Meeting in Avon (on Hatteras Island) on April the 12th, along with yours truly. If you purchase one of his books, bring it with you and he'll gladly sign it for you. So you'll have a signed first edition book!! I've read it and it's wonderful. It was Andy's fault that I stayed a wake way, way too late for a couple of nights in a row. I just could not put it down.

Roberta Estes




This blog is © History Chasers
Click here to view all recent Lost Colony Research Group Blog posts

Sir Richard Grenville

Article by Andy Powell 
  

Mention the name Sir Richard Grenville to anyone, and chances are that apart from a vague recollection that he had something to do with Bideford and died fighting a losing battle in the Azores, few will be able to add more detail, yet add more detail we must, for Grenville’s life had far more influence in Elizabethan history than he has ever been given credit for.

 

Grenville’s date of birth is a mystery in itself, with various sources quoting anything from 1540 to 1543. The truth lies in a portrait painting hanging in the National Gallery, a later copy of which hangs in Bideford’s Town Hall. Upon this painting is an inscription that tells us the painting was produced in 1571 “in the year of his life 29”, meaning Grenville was 29 in 1571 and thus was born in 1542. Where he was born remains a mystery though, as does much of his early life, but there is evidence that he was raised at Clifton House near St. Germans in Cornwall as a Ward of Court. Why a Ward of Court? Few people realize his father was Captain of the Mary Rose which sank so catastrophically off Portsmouth when our Grenville was only 3 years of age.

Cont. here:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~molcgdrg/nl/currenta.htm http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~molcgdrg/nl/currenta.htm

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Did Sir Richard Greenville Leave the Ancestors of the Banker Ponies?

OCRACOKE PONIES

The Wild Bankers of Ocracoke Island
OCRACOKE'S FAVORITE RESIDENTS

Legend has it that the "Banker" horses of Ocracoke were left by shipwrecked explorers of the 16th or 17th Century. European ships commonly carried livestock to the New World. If a ship ran aground near the coast, animals were thrown overboard to lighten the load so that the ship could be re-floated. The livestock were often left behind when the ship again set sail. Sir Richard Grenville's ship TIGER ran aground at Ocracoke Island in 1565.* There is speculation that he may have unloaded Spanish mustangs on the island.

Evidence also exists of a failed earlier Spanish colony further south along the Carolina coast in 1526. Their horses, if abandoned, may have slowly spread north to Ocracoke.
Banker horses have been documented on Ocracoke since the first European settlers came to stay in the 1730's. There have been as many as 300 horses on Ocracoke Island. They have played a major role in the island's history, serving residents as beasts of burden at work and at play, in beach rides and races.

The U.S. Life-saving Service used horses until 1915 for beach patrols and to haul equipment to and from shipwreck sites. The Coast Guard kept a small band of Banker ponies to patrol the beaches during World War II. For a period of the 1950's, islanders held annual July 4th pony "pennings". Horses and colts were rounded up and driven into the village to be corralled and then branded. Some horses were sold during the event.

Cont. here:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/caha/oc_ponies.htm

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banker_Horse

http://www.thegaitedhorse.com/banker_horses.htm

http://www.islandfreepress.org/Archives/2007.10.09-RememberingDaleBurrus.html

*With delays caused by the capture of a Spanish ship, the need to gather salt, and the purchase of supplies, the English finally arrived off Cape Fear on 23 June 1585. The next day they anchored and fished in the vicinity of present-day Beaufort Inlet. And finally on 26 June they reached Wococon on the Outer Banks. (It may or may not have been the present-day Ocracoke Inlet: inlets in this area open and close often and move continually.) On 29 June 1585 the Tyger ran aground at Wococon with the loss of most of the supplies on board.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/fora/first.htm

First Posted by History Chasers at 5/01/2008 07:04:00 PM

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Click here to view all recent Lost Colony Research Group Blog posts

Lost Colony's Croatan Connection

The Croatan Indians of Sampson County, North Carolina:
Their Origin and Racial Status
A Plea for Separate Schools

WHITE'S LOST COLONY

There is a tradition among these Indians that their ancestors were white people, a part of Gov. White's Lost Colony, who amalgamated with the coast Indians and afterwards removed

Page 11

to the interior, where they now reside. It is a matter of common knowledge that the Indians are a people of "traditions," being entirely destitute of written records. These traditions would be of little value were they not supported by authentic historical data.

Governor White left a colony of 120 men and women from England on Roanoke Island in 1587, and when he returned in 1590, he found no trace of the colony save the word "Croatan" carved upon a tree. According to a secret understanding which White had with the colonists before he returned to England, if they departed from Roanoke Island before his return they were to carve upon the trees or posts of doors "the name of the place where they should be seated." When White and his men returned in 1590 where they had left the colony three years before, they saw upon a tree carved in Roman letters the word "CROATAN" without any cross or sign of distress about the word, for he had the understanding that if any misfortune came to them they should put a cross over the word.

One of the early maps of the Carolina coast, which appears in Lederer's Travels, prepared in 1666, represents Croatoan as an island south of Cape Hatteras. Croatan is made as a part of the mainland directly west of Roanoke Island. Governor White indicates that the colony originally removed to Croatoan, and not Croatan.

The term Croatan, or Croatoan was applied by the English to the friendly tribe of Manteo, whose chief abode was on the island on the coast southward from Roanoke. The name Croatan seems to indicate a locality in the territory claimed by Manteo and his tribe. Manteo was one of two friendly Indians who had been carried to England by Sir Richard Grenville, and returned with Governor White, on the occasion of his first voyage in 1587. By direction of Sir Walter Raleigh, Manteo was baptized and in reward for his services to the English he was designated "Lord of Roanoke."

McMillan in his pamphlet says:

"It is evident from the story of Governor White, that the colonists went southward along the coast to Croatoan Island, now a part of

Page 12

Carteret County, in North Carolina, and distant about 100 miles in a direct line from Albemarle Sound."

Dr. Hawks, in his history, speaks of this tribe as the "Hatteras Indians." From the first appearance of the English, relations of the most friendly character were known to exist between this tribe and the colony. Manteo was their chief.

The Hatteras Indians are described in the Hand Book of American Indians as follows:

"HATTERAS;--An Algonquian tribe living in 1701 on the sand banks about C. Hatteras, N. C., E. of Pamlico Sound, and frequenting Roanoke Id. Their single village, Sandbanks, had then only about 80 inhabitants. They showed traces of white blood and claimed that some of their ancestors were white. They may have been identical with the Croatan Indians (q. c.), with whom Raleigh's colonists at Roanoke Island are supposed to have taken refuge."

Full Text of John Lawson's Journal

John Lawson was an early English explorer who left a permanent record of his travels among the tribes of the Carolinas. He commenced his journey on December 28th, 1700. Lawson's History of North Carolina is regarded as the standard authority for the period it covers, and he says that there was a band of Indians in the eastern part of North Carolina known as Hatteras Indians, that had lived on Roanoke Island and that these told him that many of their ancestors were white people and could "talk in a book." That many of these Indians had grey eyes that were found among no other Indians, that they were friendly to the English and were ready to do all friendly services.

He says it is probable that White's Colony miscarried for want of timely supplies from England, or through the treachery of the natives, for we may reasonably suppose that the English were forced to cohabit with them and that in process of time, they conformed themselves to the manners of their Indian relations.

John Lawson travelled among the Indians of North Carolina before they had come in contact with any of the white settlers, and found the same tribe of Indians residing on the south side of the Neuse River known as the Coree Tribe. One

Page 13

of the head men of this tribe was an Indian of the name of Enoe-Will, who travelled several days with Lawson as his guide. Speaking of this Indian Lawson says: "Our guide and land-lord, Enoe-Will, was the best and most agreeable temper that ever I saw within an Indian. Being always ready to serve not out of gain but real affection."

Lawson had with him his Bible, and Enoe-Will, his guide, was accompanied by his son Jack, 14 years old, and Enoe-Will requested Lawson to teach his son "to talk in his book" and "to make paper speak, which was called our way of writing."

From McPherson's Report, commenting on the above, we copy as follows:

"The presence of grey eyes and fair skin among these people in Lawson's time can not be explained on any other hypothesis than that of amalgamation with the white race; and when Lawson wrote (1709) there was a tradition among the Hatteras Indians that their ancestors were white people 'and could talk in a book;' and that 'they valued themselves extremely for their affinity to the English and were ready to do them all friendly offices.' I have already referred to the fact that Enoe-Will, a Coree Indian, who had been raised on the coast and who was probably nearly 70 years of age when he acted as Lawson's guide, knew that the English could 'talk in a book' and as he further expressed it, 'could make paper talk,' indication that he was familiar with the customs of the English.

"Couple this with the fact that the guide had an English name, 'Will,' which he probably assumed at the age of 20 or 21, and the information previously given by him that he lived on Enoe Bay when he was a boy leads quite certainly to the conclusion that the Corees had come in contact with at least some portion of the lost colony. It must be remembered that when Will was a boy there were no English settlements on the east coast of North Carolina other than White's Lost Colony.

"Their religion and idea of faith was more exalted than was common among the savages, and leads to the belief that they had had communication with the more civilized race from the East.
"There is an abiding tradition among these people at the present time that their ancestors were the Lost Colony, amalgamated with some tribe of Indians. This tradition is supported by their looks, their complexion, color of skin, hair and eyes, by their manners, customs and habits, and by the fact that while they are, in part, of undoubted Indian origin, they have no Indian names and no Indian language--not

Sir Richard Grenville's Horses Left Behind on the Outer Banks?

OCRACOKE PONIES

The Wild Bankers of Ocracoke Island
OCRACOKE'S FAVORITE RESIDENTS

Legend has it that the "Banker" horses of Ocracoke were left by shipwrecked explorers of the 16th or 17th Century. European ships commonly carried livestock to the New World. If a ship ran aground near the coast, animals were thrown overboard to lighten the load so that the ship could be re-floated. The livestock were often left behind when the ship again set sail. Sir Richard Grenville's ship TIGER ran aground at Ocracoke Island in 1565.* There is speculation that he may have unloaded Spanish mustangs on the island.

Evidence also exists of a failed earlier Spanish colony further south along the Carolina coast in 1526. Their horses, if abandoned, may have slowly spread north to Ocracoke.
Banker horses have been documented on Ocracoke since the first European settlers came to stay in the 1730's. There have been as many as 300 horses on Ocracoke Island. They have played a major role in the island's history, serving residents as beasts of burden at work and at play, in beach rides and races.

The U.S. Life-saving Service used horses until 1915 for beach patrols and to haul equipment to and from shipwreck sites. The Coast Guard kept a small band of Banker ponies to patrol the beaches during World War II. For a period of the 1950's, islanders held annual July 4th pony "pennings". Horses and colts were rounded up and driven into the village to be corralled and then branded. Some horses were sold during the event.

Cont. here:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/caha/oc_ponies.htm

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banker_Horse

http://www.thegaitedhorse.com/banker_horses.htm

http://www.islandfreepress.org/Archives/2007.10.09-RememberingDaleBurrus.html

*With delays caused by the capture of a Spanish ship, the need to gather salt, and the purchase of supplies, the English finally arrived off Cape Fear on 23 June 1585. The next day they anchored and fished in the vicinity of present-day Beaufort Inlet. And finally on 26 June they reached Wococon on the Outer Banks. (It may or may not have been the present-day Ocracoke Inlet: inlets in this area open and close often and move continually.) On 29 June 1585 the Tyger ran aground at Wococon with the loss of most of the supplies on board.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/fora/first.htm

Roanoke Colonies

The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County in present-day North Carolina was an enterprise financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh in the late 16th century to establish a permanent English settlement in the Virginia Colony. Between 1585 and 1587, groups of colonists were left to make the attempt, all of which either abandoned the colony or disappeared. The final group disappeared after a period of three years elapsed without supplies from England, leading to the continuing mystery known as "The Lost Colony." The principal hypothesis is that the colonists disappeared and were absorbed by one of the local indigenous populations, although the colonists may possibly have been massacred by the Spanish. Other theories include a massacre by some of the hostile local tribes.

Sir Walter Raleigh had received a charter for the colonization of the area of North America known as Virginia from Queen Elizabeth I of England. The charter specified that Raleigh had ten years in which to establish a settlement in North America or lose his right to colonization.

Raleigh and Elizabeth intended that the venture should provide riches from the New World, and a base from which to send privateers on raids against the treasure fleets of Spain.

In 1584, Raleigh dispatched an expedition to explore the eastern coast of North America for an appropriate location. The expedition was led by Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe, who chose the Outer Banks of modern North Carolina as an ideal location from which to raid the Spanish, who had settlements to the South, and proceeded to make contact with local American Indians, the Croatan tribe of the Carolina Algonquians.

First Group

The following spring, a colonizing expedition composed solely of men, many of them veteran soldiers who had fought to establish English rule in Ireland, was sent to establish the colony. The leader of the settlement effort, Sir Richard Grenville, was assigned to further explore the area, establish the colony, and return to England with news of the venture's success. The establishment of the colony was initially postponed, perhaps because most of the colony's food stores were ruined when the lead ship struck a shoal upon arrival at the Outer Banks. After the initial exploration of the mainland coast and the native settlements located there, the natives in the village of Aquascogoc were blamed for stealing a silver cup. In response the last village visited was sacked and burned, and its weroance (tribal chief) executed by burning.

Despite this incident and a lack of food, Grenville decided to leave Ralph Lane and approximately 75 men to establish the English colony at the north end of Roanoke Island, promising to return in April 1586 with more men and fresh supplies.

By April 1586, relations with a neighboring tribe had degraded to such a degree that they attacked an expedition led by Lane to explore the Roanoke River and the possibility of the Fountain of Youth. In response he attacked the natives in their capital, where he killed their weroance, Wingina.

As April passed there was no sign of Grenville's relief fleet. The colony was still in existence in June when Sir Francis Drake paused on his way home from a successful raid in the Caribbean, and offered to take the colonists back to England, an offer they accepted. The relief fleet arrived shortly after the departure of Drake's fleet with the colonists. Finding the colony abandoned, Grenville decided to return to England with the bulk of his force, leaving behind a small detachment both to maintain an English presence and to protect Raleigh's claim to Virginia.

Second group

In 1587, Raleigh dispatched another group of colonists. These 121 colonists were led by John White, an artist and friend of Raleigh's who had accompanied the previous expeditions to Roanoke. The new colonists were tasked with picking up the fifteen men left at Roanoke and settling farther north, in the Chesapeake Bay area; however, no trace of them was found, other than the bones of a single man. The one local tribe still friendly towards the English, the Croatans on present-day Hatteras Island, reported that the men had been attacked, but that nine had survived and sailed up the coast in their boat.

The settlers landed on Roanoke Island on July 22 1587. On August 18, White's daughter delivered the first English child born in the Americas: Virginia Dare. Before her birth, White reestablished relations with the neighboring Croatans and tried to reestablish relations with the tribes that Ralph Lane had attacked a year previously. The aggrieved tribes refused to meet with the new colonists. Shortly thereafter, George Howe was killed by natives while searching for crabs alone in Albemarle Sound. Knowing what had happened during Ralph Lane's tenure in the area and fearing for their lives, the colonists convinced Governor White to return to England to explain the colony's situation and ask for help. There were approximately 116 colonists—115 men and women who made the trans-Atlantic passage and a newborn baby, Virginia Dare, when White returned to England.

Crossing the Atlantic as late in the year as White did was a considerable risk, as evidenced by the claim of pilot Simon Fernandez that their vessel barely made it back to England. Plans for a relief fleet were initially delayed by the captains' refusal to sail back during the winter. Then, the coming of the Spanish Armada led to every able ship in England being commandeered to fight, which left White with no seaworthy vessels with which to return to Roanoke. He did manage, however, to hire two smaller vessels deemed unnecessary for the Armada defense and set out for Roanoke in the spring of 1588. This time, White's attempt to return to Roanoke was foiled by human nature and circumstance; the two vessels were small, and their captains greedy. They attempted to capture several vessels on the outward-bound voyage to improve the profitability of their venture, until they were captured themselves and their cargo taken. With nothing left to deliver to the colonists, the ships returned to England.

Because of the continuing war with Spain, White was not able to raise another resupply attempt for two more years. He finally gained passage on a privateering expedition that agreed to stop off at Roanoke on the way back from the Caribbean. White landed on August 18, 1590, on his granddaughter's third birthday, but found the settlement deserted. He organized a search, but his men could not find any trace of the colonists. Some ninety men, seventeen women, and eleven children had disappeared; there was no sign of a struggle or battle of any kind. The only clue was the word "Croatoan" carved into a post of the fort and "Cro" carved into a nearby tree. In addition, there were two skeletons buried. All the houses and fortifications were dismantled. Before the colony disappeared, White established that if anything happened to them they would carve a maltese cross on a tree near their location indicating that their disappearance could have been forced. White took this to mean that they had moved to Croatoan Island, but he was unable to conduct a search; a massive storm was brewing and his men refused to go any further. The next day, White stood on the deck of his ship and watched, helplessly, as they left Roanoke Island.

Full Article Here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Colony