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- Sir Ralph Lane (c. 1532 - October 1603) was an English explorer of the E l izabethan era. He helped colonise the Kingdom of Ireland in 1583 and w a s sheriff of County Kerry, Ireland, from 1583 to 1585. He was part of t h e unsuccessful attempt in 1585 to colonise Roanoke Island, North Carol i na . He was knighted by the Queen in 1593.
Lane is best remembered for his attempt to establish a settlement on Ro a noke Island at the request of Sir Walter Raleigh. Queen Elizabeth was l o o k i n g for places to colonise and the Americas appeared ripe for Englis h e x p a n sion. The voyage began on 9 April 1585. The fleet comprised the T i g e r ( G renville's), the Roebuck, the Red Lion, the Elizabeth, and the D o r o t h y. The voyage on the Tiger proved difficult, as Lane quarrelled wi t h t h e a g gressive leadership of Grenville, whom he found a person of "i n t o l e rable pride and insatiable ambition". Unfortunately, during a seve r e s t o r m off the coast of Portugal, the Tiger was separated from the re s t o f t h e f leet. The Tiger arrived on 11 May to Baye's Muskito (Guayan i l la , P u erto Rico). While waiting for the other ships, Grenville establ i s h e d r elations with the Spanish (whilst at the same time participating i n p r i v a teering against their ships) and also built a small fortress. Th e E l i z a beth arrived shortly after construction of the fortress.
Despite trouble with the natives (because of the attitudes of the Engli s h ) a n d t he shortage of food, Lane and 107 other settlers were left on R o a n o k e Island, Virginia, on 17 August 1585 to establish a colony on its n o r t h e n d. They built a small fort, probably similar to the one at Guaya n i l l a B ay, but Lane and Grenville fell out with each other, a foretaste o f t h e t r o ubles that dogged the colony until the end. Almost immediately , G r e n v ille and his crew set sail for England, promising to return in A pr i l 1 5 8 6 with more men and fresh supplies.
April 1586 passed with no news of Grenville. In June, Sir Francis Drake a r r i v e d at Roanoke and offered Lane and his men a return voyage to Engla n d , w h i ch Lane readily accepted because of a weakened food supply and i n c r e a sed tensions with local tribes. Drake's fleet reached Portsmouth o n 2 8 J u l y , at which the settlers of Roanoke introduced snuff, corn, and p o t a t o es to England. The Account of Ralph Lane first appeared in Richar d H a k l u yt's Principall Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries o f t h e E n g lish Nation in 1589.
Lane later participated in other expeditions. In January 1592 he was ap p o i n t ed muster-master general of Ireland and was knighted the following y e a r b y S i r William FitzWilliam, the Lord Deputy of Ireland.
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Abt 1532 - 1603 (71 years)
