The Roanoke Island Colonists
Who were the people who sailed to build a colony at Roanoke Island? Most have remained as mysterious as their disappearance. Although current research holds significant promise for their ultimate identification, some of the people remain just names on a list. Even members of the Lost Colony itself are part of the mystery surrounding this colony.
Explore the names of the people associated with the voyages below and learn a little bit about the people who ventured so far from home in search of wealth, adventure, or a new chance at life. Some names have been slightly altered form how they were originally spelled, but most remain how they were spelled by John White and others.
Participants of the 1587 Lost Colony
The participants of the Lost Colony are some of the most studied people. While it is often stated as 115 people, there are babies born, colonists killed, and Native Algonquian people with the colony which makes the number vary from source to source. Below is a list of the colonists taken from John White's account of his voyage.
List of the Participants of the Lost Colony Attempt
| Last Name |
First Name |
Notes |
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Participants in the 1585 Military Colony Voyages
Before the Lost Colony ever set sail, Sir Walter Raleigh was planning on building a military colony in the New World. He had his eyes set on Roanoke Island after a reconnaissance voyage in 1584 and sent seven ships with around 600 sailors, soldiers, and others to build the colony. Below is a list of participants in that voyage, but the list does not contain every person as some names are unknown.
Participants of the 1585 Military Colony Voyages
| Last Name |
First Name |
Notes |
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The 1584 Reconnaisance
As the first voyage sent by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584, the two ships he sent had around 70 sailors, let by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe. Below is the list of sailors known today to have been the first English people to land in the present-day United States
- Master Philip Amadas, Captain
- Master Arthur Barlowe, Captain
- Simon Fernandes, Navigator
- William Greeneuille
- John Wood
- Iames Browewich
- Henrie Greene
- Beniamin Wood
- Nicholas Petman
- John Hewes
Credits & Sources
Text based on "Roanoke Colonists" by William S. Powell. Edited and expanded by lebame houston, Wynne Dough and Deanna Potts
- Hakluyt, Richard, PRINCIPALL NAVIGATIONS (1589), pp. 728-33 and (1600), III, p. 251, as quoted in Quinn, David, ed. The Roanoke Voyages 1584-1590, (The Hakluyt Society, London: 1955), Vol. I, pp. 115-116.
- Hakluyt, Richard, PRINCIPALL NAVIGATIONS (1589), pp. 736-7, as quoted in Quinn, David, ed. The Roanoke Voyages 1584-1590, (The Hakluyt Society, London: 1955), Vol. I, pp. 194-197.
- Keeler, Mary Frear, ed. Sir Francis Drake's West Indian Voyage 1585-86, (The Hakluyt Society, London: 1981), Appendix III, pp. 301 - 320.
- White, John, John White's Narrative of the 1587 Virginia Voyage (1587), as quoted in Quinn, David, ed. The First Colonists (Oxford University Press: 1973) pp. 107-108.
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