Iohn White / Iohn White / Iohn White
Alternate Spelling Occurrences Additional Notes
White, John (fl. 1577-1593):; John White was an artist and enthusiastic advocate of colonization from London, governor of the “Lost” colony of Roanoke, and grandfather of Virginia Dare, the first English child to be born in the New World. Trained as an artist, it is thought that White went as an observer, recorder and artist on Martin Frobisher’s 1577 expedition to Baffin Island, during which time he sketched pictures of Eskimos, Frobisher’s ships, and a battle between the Eskimos and the British. He accompanied Richard Grenville on the 1585 expedition to the New World, sketching and painting the native inhabitants and their villages, as well as many plants and animals of the area, working, exploring, and recording in conjunction with the mathematician and navigator Thomas Harriot, who had been commissioned by Raleigh to record information regarding the area’s inhabitants as well as the geography and natural resources ripe for economic development and exploitation. When the colonists returned to England with Drake’s fleet in 1586, a storm necessitated that a great deal of supplies, evidently including many of Harriot and White’s original drawing and maps, to be thrown overboard, and thus much of his work was likely lost. However, many of White’s drawing were published in four languages and distributed throughout Europe in Theodore de Bry’s 1590 work America: Part I, paired with Thomas Harriot’s A Briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia. ; White returned to the New World as governor of Raleigh’s 1586 colony. The colonists were dropped off by Simon Fernando at the old settlement on Roanoke Island rather than Chesapeake Bay, as originally planned. White attempted to make the best of a less than ideal situation and build up the colony’s strength. However, the colonists were worried about a supply shortage and that British supply ships would not know their true location, and so they pressured White to return to England to appeal the colony’s cause. Having made arrangements that, should the colonists move, signs would be left by the indicating their intended location and whether they were doing well or ill, John White departed for England where he immediately began arranging to return with supplies. However, due to the growing violence between England and Spain at sea, the voyage was delayed until 1588, at which point Richard Grenville, who was to command the return voyage, was enlisted to fight the coming Spanish Armada, causing further delay. Raleigh instead set two small supply ships, the Brave (on which White sailed) and the Roe to attempt to brave the hostile seas and reach Roanoke. Both were attacked by privateers and forced to return to England, White himself being wounded aboard the Brave. It was not until late 1589 that sufficient backing was able to be raised to attempt another relief expedition, and White finally sailed with a supply ship and three privateers as an escort, beaten by rough seas and constant delays all the way until, having been gone for three years, White finally returned to Roanoke Island. There he found that the colonists, as well as the old fort and houses, were gone, but that signs had been left indicating that all was well and that the colonists had moved to Croatan, Manteo’s village across the water to the south. White wanted to journey to Croatan, but the sailors refused to take him there, as the seas were still very rough, and White was forced to return to England, where he brought the news that the colonists were alive, but was subsequently unable to find anyone willing to back another colonial venture to the New World. He never returned. ;
Works Cited:; Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, ed. William S. Powell. (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1996), s.v. “White, John.”;