Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh ( 1554 – October 29, 1618) is famed as a writer, poet, courtier and explorer. Note that many alternate spellings of his surname exist, including Rawley, Ralegh, and Rawleigh; although "Raleigh" appears most commonly today, he himself used that spelling only once. His most consistent preference was for "Ralegh".

Early life

Walter Raleigh was born at Hayes Barton, in Devon, England. He was the half brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1537–1583) and Adrian Gilbert, uncle of Sir Francis Drake (1540–1596) through his first wife Alice Drake, and brother-in-law of Sir Richard Grenville (1542–1591) through Alice's brother John. He was also related to the Sackvilles or Sackfields of Dorset and apparently to most of the individuals whom he chose for his entourage to the New World and to other places. Raleigh's family had a fundamentally Protestant religious orientation and experienced a number of near escapes during the reign of the Catholic queen Mary I of England (1553–1558). During childhood, Raleigh developed a hatred of Catholicism, and proved quick to express it after the Protestant Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558. In 1572, he became an undergraduate at Oriel College, Oxford and in the registry of the Middle Temple in 1575.

By 1581, after a number of military and naval engagements in France, Ireland and elsewhere, he had become established as a courtier and as Elizabeth's favourite. The story that he once took off an expensive cloak and threw it over a mud puddle for Queen Elizabeth to walk across illustrates Raleigh's flamboyant manner—the event probably never happened, but everyone had come to expect that sort of thing from Raleigh, and Elizabeth always favoured that kind of showmanship.

In 1587, the first Ark Royal was built as Ark Raleigh at Deptford on the River Thames, on Raleigh's orders; he was later compelled to sell the ship, to cover his debts.

The New World

Raleigh's plan for colonization in " Virginia" (which included the present-day states of North Carolina and Virginia) in North America ended in failure at Roanoke Island, but he paved the way and for subsequent colonies to take hold because of the lessons that were learned. His voyages were funded primarily by himself and his friends, and this never provided the steady stream of revenue necessary for starting a colony in America. Subsequent attempts in the early seventeenth century were made under the joint-stock Virginia Company which was able to pool together the capital necessary to create successful colonies.

Raleigh put together several voyages to travel to, explore, and colonize the New World. The colonists settled at Roanoke Island. The first colony was forced to abandon the island for a number of reasons. Most of the first settlers were not skilled farmers or gardeners and their primary motivation for venturing to America was to seek fortune in gold or other precious products. When it became obvious that this was not going to happen, they wanted out. Relations broke down between the settlers and the local native tribes as the colonists placed heavy demands on the natives' crops.

Raleigh learned from his mistakes of the first colony, and attempted a second expedition in 1587. This time, a more diversified group of settlers was sent, some entire families, under the governage of John White. But after being there a short while it was decided that White would go back to England to rush a supply vessel to provide much needed aid to the budding colony. However, White was unable to return the following year, as planned, because the Queen had ordered that all vessels remain at port in case they would be needed in defence against the Spanish Armada and it was not until 1591 that the resupply vessel arrived. By this time, the colonists had mysteriously disappeared. The only clue to their whereabouts were the words "CROATOAN" carved onto one tree, and the word "CRO" carved onto another. Nobody knows, for sure, what happened to the missing people, however it is speculated that they were either massacred by the Croatoan tribe (with which they had begun friendly relations), they were absorbed into the tribe, were taken away by another tribe, or were swept away by the severe storms of 1588, which were the very same storms that are actually credited with the defeat of the Spanish Armada. They are now remembered as "The Lost Colony".

Ireland

Raleigh had taken part in the suppression of the Desmond Rebellions in Ireland, in 1579, and benefited from the subsequent distribution of land. He received 40,000 acres (160 km²) which included the important towns of Youghal and Lismore. This allowed him to become one of the principal landowners in Munster, but he had limited success in inducing English tenants to settle on his estates. Youghal was the home of Raleigh for short periods during the seventeen years in which he held land in Ireland.

Raleigh is said to have planted the first potatoes in Ireland at Youghal in County Cork, thus introducing a nutritious food which was to have a major impact on Ireland's future. Another incident recalls how Raleigh was smoking in the garden of his home, Myrtle Grove, when his servant, never having seen tobacco before, threw water over him fearing that he had been set alight. Raleigh was Mayor of Youghal in 1588 and 1589. Amongst his acquaintances in the area was the English poet Edmund Spenser who, like Raleigh, had been granted land in Munster.

The 1590s brought difficulties on Raleigh's Irish plantations at a time when his own fortunes were in decline. He sold his Irish estates in 1602, thus ending his involvement with the plantation of Munster.

Later life

In 1591, Raleigh was secretly married to Elizabeth ("Bess") Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, and eleven years his junior, who was pregnant for the third time. When the unauthorised marriage was discovered the next year, the Queen ordered Raleigh imprisoned and Bess dismissed from court. It was several years before Raleigh returned to favour. The couple remained devoted to each other, and, during Raleigh's absences, she proved a capable manager of the family's fortunes and reputation. The couple had two sons, Wat and Carew.

Raleigh was Governor of Jersey 1600– 1603, responsible for modernising the defences of the island. He named the new fortress protecting the approaches to Saint Helier Fort Isabella Bellissima, known thereafter in English as Elizabeth Castle.

Royal favour did not last, however. On November 17, 1603, after Elizabeth's death, Raleigh went on trial for treason in the converted Great Hall of Winchester Castle for supposed involvement in the Main Plot. His involvement in the Main Plot seems to have been confined to meeting with Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham and no more, but Raleigh was in disfavour at that point. He languished in the Tower of London until 1616. While imprisoned, he wrote a book about ancient history (of Greece and Rome): A Historie of the World, also known as A History of the World.

Raleigh was released from the Tower in 1616 to conduct a second expedition to the Orinoco in search of El Dorado, in the course of which his men, under the command of Lawrence Keymis, sacked the Spanish outpost of San Thome. Raleigh's son Wat was struck by a bullet and killed instantly in the initial attack on the town. On Raleigh's return to England, the outraged Spanish Ambassador demanded that King James reinstate Raleigh's death sentence.

Raleigh was beheaded at Whitehall on October 29, 1618. His last words after he was allowed to view the axe that was to take his life were "This is a sharp Medicine, but it is a Physician for all Diseases!" According to "Shepherd of the Ocean," a biography of Raleigh by J.H. Adamson and H.F. Holland, his wife had the head "embalmed and kept it by her side, frequently inquiring of visitors if they would like to see Sir Walter." In 1618, Raleigh's head was interred with his body at St. Margaret's near Westminster Abbey.

Although his popularity had waned considerably since his Elizabethan heyday, his execution was seen by many to be unnecessary and unjust, and is judged by some historians to have hastened the demise of the Stuart dynasty.

Legacy

• The 1955 film classic The Virgin Queen dramatizes the relationships between Queen Elizabeth, Raleigh, and his wife; the film stars Bette Davis, Richard Todd, and Joan Collins.

• His name is quoted in the Beatles' song I'm So Tired, from the White Album.

• The city of Raleigh, North Carolina takes its name from Sir Walter.

• The name "Sir Walter Raleigh" is sometimes used in the Prince Albert in a can joke.

• In February 2006 a bronze statue of Raleigh by sculptress Vivien Mallock was unveiled in the Devonshire village of East Budleigh. Costing some £30,000 it was controversially part-funded by British American Tobacco.

• The title of the comedy History of the World, Part I by Mel Brooks is a reference to the fact that when Raleigh was beheaded, he had only finished Volume I of his book History of the World.

Preceded by: The Earl of Bedford	Lord Warden of the Stannaries 1584– 1603	Succeeded by: The Earl of Pembroke
Preceded by: John Best	Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard 1597– 1603	Succeeded by: Sir Thomas Erskine
Preceded by: Sir Anthony Paulet	Governor of Jersey 1600– 1603	Succeeded by: Sir John Peyton

Books

• Raleigh Trevelyan - Sir Walter Raleigh (2003)