Virginia Dare

The Virginia Dare statue in the Elizabethan Gardens is just one depiction of Virginia Dare

Quick Facts

Significance:

First English child born in North America

Place of Birth:

Roanoke Island, NC

Date of Birth:

August 18, 1587

Perhaps no child in American history has been written about so much with so little actually known about their life as Virginia Dare. A nine-day old infant at the Roanoke Island colony, she has become a focal point of Lost Colonist stories despite no further information being known about her life after her grandfather, John White, leaves the colony. Whether she lived a complete life or died young, people over the centuries have created their own version of Virginia Dare because of her status as the first English child born in North America. 

Her mother, Eleanor Dare, made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean with her husband, Ananias Dare, while pregnant. The daughter of the governor, John White, Eleanor gave birth to Virginia Dare on August 18, 1587, on Roanoke Island, where the colony had been stranded. Her parents named her Virginia after the name of the colony where they had landed. Just one week after her birth, the colonists baptized Virginia. Shortly after the baptism, Margerie and Dionis Harvie welcomed another child to the colony making Virginia one of two children born in the colony before John White’s departure. While John White writes very little about his granddaughter, even less is written about the Harvie child, with no name or gender known.

John White departs the island, leaving the colonists, including Virginia, behind on August 27. He plans to return with more supplies and colonists, but he is delayed by war with Spain. He returned to Roanoke Island three years later, on what would be Virginia’s third birthday, but found almost no sign of the colonists. His return to the island has spawned numerous ideas about the fate of Virginia Dare and the colonists, but no conclusive answer has been found.

Despite no information about the fate of Virginia Dare, people have been creating myths, folklore, and art about what her life potentially could have been for over 200 years. One of the most prominent artistic works of Virginia is a statue of her as an adult created by Maria Louisa Lander in 1859. Since the 1930s, companies have also used Virginia Dare as their mascot and advertisement to draw in shoppers with various depictions of the famous baby. Political causes have also used her in both anti-suffragist messages as well as feminist political causes, showing that Virginia Dare has been used for whatever purpose needed. For a child last known to be 9 days old, Virginia Dare has permeated American culture and has become an icon much larger than her actual life story.