Spicer, Edward: (fl. 1587-1590); Edward Spicer was the master of the fly-boat in the Raleigh’s 1587 Roanoke Voyage under John White, and later sailed as captain of the Moonlight (likely a supply ship) in the 1590 voyage to Virginia. Evidently deliberately deserted by Simon Fernandez. White writes that Spicer, who had never before sailed to the New World, was intentionally deserted by Simon Fernandez (the master of the Lion and navigator of the expedition) in the Bay of Portugal on the 1587 voyage, in the hopes that he would be lost or captured by pirates. Despite this setback, Spicer still managed to make his way to the Roanoke Settlement. He also seems to have been briefly left behind in the 1590 voyage, but he again managed to catch back up to the rest of the fleet. Tragically, Edward Spicer was drowned off of Cape Hatteras in August of 1590 when his ship’s boat was overturned by a wave in an attempt to land in foul weather. John White evidently viewed this drowning as decidedly inconvenient and an act of selfishness on the part of Spicer, as it caused a delay and possibly prevented his locating the Roanoke colony at Croatan. ;
Works Cited:; The Roanoke Voyages, 1584-1590: Volumes I & II, ed. David Beers Quinn (London: Hakluyt Society, 1955), 66, 500, 525, 592.;