The establishment of the Roanoke Colony was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in America. The colony was founded in 1585, but it was visited by a ship in 1590 and the crew found that the colonists had disappeared under unknown circumstances. It has come to be known as the Lost Colony, and the fate of the 112 to 121 colonists remains unknown to this day.
19th-century illustration depicting the discovery of the abandoned colony, 1590.
The arrival of the Englishmen in Virginia (1590). Engraving by Theodor De Bry, from a drawing by John White.
Sir Richard Grenville
Ralph Lane's fort at Mosquetal
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion in Ireland, helped defend England against the Spanish Armada and held political positions under Elizabeth I.
Portrait of Raleigh, 1588
The Boyhood of Raleigh by John Everett Millais, 1871
"Raleigh's First Pipe in England", an illustration included in Frederick William Fairholt's Tobacco, its history and associations
Engraved portrait of Raleigh
