Roanoke Island Trivia

1. In which English city did John White live as a young adult?

From Quiz The Mystery of John White

Answer: London

The church of St. Augustine in London has a record of christening a "John White" on February 22, 1539, though whether this is our John White is not entirely certain. He was a known member of the parish of St. Martin, Ludgate, in London later in his life. He is thought to have received at least some of his training as an illustrator in London, as art experts have pointed out characteristics of his work that seem inspired by the art styles of the sixteenth century.

From Quiz Roanoke: An Unsolved Mystery

Answer: Sir Richard Grenville

Richard Grenville, commander of the Roanoke expedition, arrived there in 1585 (with approximately 107 men) the aim of the settlers was to build a fort, and establish a foothold in the Americas this would be used to expand the British Empire. Grenville returned to England, to replenish food supplies leaving Ralph Lane, in command: the Algonquian Indians at first helped the settlers. They showed them how to catch fish and to farm their land. As winter came the settlers found it hard to find food and relations soured with them and the Algonquian Indians, and colonists started to steal their food. When Francis Drake came to Roanoke he offered the settlers food or passage home to England. Not surprisingly they choose to go home.

From Quiz Roanoke Island, "The Lost Colony"

Answer: John White

They chose John White because he was too aggressive towards the Indians. This was putting the settlers in danger of Indian attacks, or at least threatened trade with the natives.

From Quiz Mystery at Roanoke Colony

Answer: All the colonists disappeared.

When supplies arrived from England there was no one there.

From Quiz The Mystery of John White

Answer: A daughter who lived to adulthood, a son who died in infancy.

Their elder child, a son named Thomas, was born first in 1567, but died in infancy. Their daughter, Eleanor, was born in 1568. She would later marry Ananias Dare in 1583 and the couple would later move to Roanoke Island.

From Quiz Roanoke: An Unsolved Mystery

Answer: Ralph Lane

Ralph Lane, born 1528, was a professional soldier who had served Elizabeth I. He was Governor of Roanoke for only eight months before he and his men returned home. Lane had no idea how to deal or trade with the Indians and this led to shortages of food: he decided to look for a better location to farm land and build a settlement because storms were battering the original site. He thought going further inland would be more beneficial, unfortunate that idea failed. On his return to England he settled in Ireland, where he remained for the rest of his life, he died in October 1603 in Dublin, Ireland.

From Quiz Roanoke Island, "The Lost Colony"

Answer: "Cro" and "Croatoan"

Some historians think that they were planning to move to somewhere safer, and then were attacked by the Indians, and weren't able to finish the second message because famine and/or Indian attacks wiped the settlers out before they were able to finish it. When John White was leaving he created a system. It was that the settlers were supposed to tell him what happened, by carving it into a tree if they had to leave, got attacked, etc. If they were going somewhere, then they had to carve where they were going. John White told the settlers to put a cross on top of the word if they were attacked. There was no cross. This was the only clue of what happened to them. Some of the people in the Lumbi tribe have blond hair and blue eyes, so it is a possibility that they moved to live with them. That was sort of a trick question. There were two messages. One message on one tree, and another (different) message on another tree.

From Quiz Mystery at Roanoke Colony

Answer: Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh was given approval to found a colony there by Queen Elizabeth.

From Quiz The Mystery of John White

Answer: Baffin Island

The 1577 expedition traveled to both Baffin Island and Greenland as part of a search for a Northwest Passage, under the command of Martin Frobisher, between Europe and the Pacific as well as precious metals. John White, who was traveling on the ship "Aid", created some illustrations of the peoples and lands encountered on the trip. White's illustrations brought him to the attention of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had ambitions for an English presence in the Americas.

From Quiz Roanoke: An Unsolved Mystery

Answer: Sir Walter Raleigh

Although Sir Walter Raleigh funded the expeditions he did not actually lead them: he placed that responsibility in the hands of Richard Grenville. He did however report the discovery of Roanoke to Elizabeth 1, and named the territory Virginia in honour of the virgin Queen. Although a one-time favourite of Elizabeth I he fell out of favour when he married Bessy Throckmorton, in 1592. He tried to redeem himself when he led an expedition to find "El Dorado", the legendary city of gold: this was unsuccessful. After Elizabeth I died his many enemies plotted against him and he was arrested for treason against the new King, James I and was beheaded on 29th October 1618.

From Quiz Mystery at Roanoke Colony

Answer: 1585

1585 was the year the original colony was started, the second Roanoke began in 1587.

From Quiz The Mystery of John White

Answer: Mapmaker

The expedition, led by Sir Ralph Lane, was unsuccessful and the colonists returned to England in 1586. While his work as an artist may be well known, he work as a mapmaker was also important. A manuscript map of the Outer Banks of North Carolina showed the location of various Native American group villages as well as dangerous shoals surrounding the islands.

From Quiz Roanoke: An Unsolved Mystery

Answer: Virginia Dare

The only things known about Virginia Dare was that she was born August 18th 1587: and named after the territory of Virginia. She was born less than a month after the settlers arrived on Roanoke, and like the other colonists, including her parents, she disappeared. Virginia was the first English baby born in the New World. Another baby was born not long after her but is virtually unknown. John White did record the baby's birth, and his/her parents. White did not record the sex of the baby, referring to it as 'Baby Harvie'. The parents are believed to have been Dyonis and Margery Harvie.

From Quiz Roanoke Island, "The Lost Colony"

Answer: 2

The first time they didn't even get to Roanoke. They hit a sandbank and sunk the ship by accident. The second time they were watching out closely for banks, and happily made it to North America. They didn't know that they were going to have hard times on that island.

From Quiz Raleigh and Roanoke: 16th Century English America

Answer: Richard Grenville

Raleigh, who had become the court favorite of Queen Elizabeth, remained behind but put his cousin, Grenville, in charge of this colonizing effort. With several ships, Grenville made his way westward towards Roanoke in a rather circuitous fashion. Grenville's fleet finally arrived in July and a fort was built on the island, with over a dozen men left behind to occupy it. Ralph Lane was the commander of these troops, while Hariot served as the science expert and White as the 'official painter'. It seems that plunder was more of a concern than colony planting for this mission in the end, however. On his return trip Grenville captured a large Spanish vessel loaded with treasure for the Spanish court. A healthy return for the investment in this expedition was thus guaranteed...

From Quiz Mystery at Roanoke Colony

Answer: John White

White was appointed by Raleigh.

From Quiz The Mystery of John White

Answer: Watercolors

White used watercolors at a time when it was more common for painters to use oil-based paints. His paintings were quite popular in sixteenth century Europe, particularly after 1590 when engravings of the paintings by Theodore de Bry were published under the title "America". The remaining original White paintings are held by the British museum, which in 2007 held an exhibition of about 70 of his paintings under the title "A New World: England's First View of America." On a personal note, I have prints of two of his paintings--one of a crab and one of a turtle--hanging in my living room. (They were purchased when I visited the historic site of Roanoke Island in 2006).

From Quiz Roanoke: An Unsolved Mystery

Answer: Wingina

When Grenville arrived at Roanoke in 1585 Wingina (who later changed his name to Pemisapan), was King of the Sectoa tribe and the first Native American chief to welcome the settlers. Grenville and his party of men visited a few of the Indian tribes situated near Roanoke: the Secotan tribe, the Pomeiooc tribe and finally the Aquascogoc. It was the next day the colonists realised a silver cup was missing. The cup had last been used at the Aquascogoc Village and Grenville sent some of his men to retrieve it. When the cup was not returned Grenville ordered the Aquascogoc Village burnt to the ground along with the corn fields. Not surprisingly this did not sit well with the Indians and when Grenville returned to England, leaving approximately 100 men to set up the colony, they refused to help the settlers. When the colonists sent out a scouting party word reached them that Wingina was planning to attack the settlement. The settlers decided to attack them first, this resulted in Wingina, being shot and killed by Thomas Hariot and Edward Nugent. They returned to the settlement with the Wingina's severed head.

From Quiz Mystery at Roanoke Colony

Answer: Virginia Dare

Virginia Dare was born to Eleanor Dare.

From Quiz The Mystery of John White

Answer: Governor

Many such colonial enterprises of the English in the sixteenth and seventeenth century would appoint a member of the nobility or gentry as the leader. John White, who was probably a commoner, was an unusual choice, although he was a member of the previous (1585) colony. His time as governor, however, was largely unsuccessful, as he spent much of it in dispute with Simon Fernandes, captain of the main vessel assigned to Roanoke. It has been suggested that his later return to England was due to the wishes of the colonists, rather than himself.

From Quiz Roanoke: An Unsolved Mystery

Answer: John White

John White was an English artist who sailed with Richard Grenville to the New World in 1585. It was the first attempt to set up a colony and White acted as the expedition's artist and mapmaker. Some of his work still survives and it is stored in the print room of the British Museum. He returned to Roanoke in 1587: to set up the second colony bringing with him his wife and daughter (who was pregnant at the time) and son-in-law. His granddaughter, Virginia Dare, was only nine weeks old when he returned to England and unfortunately he never saw any of his family again. He died in 1593, in County Cork: Ireland.

From Quiz Roanoke Island, "The Lost Colony"

Answer: John White

He led more than 100 women and children from England.

From Quiz Raleigh and Roanoke: 16th Century English America

Answer: Virginia

Virginia Dare was born to Elanora, daughter of John White (mentioned previously), and Ananias Dare on August 18, 1587. Sadly, little Virginia was among those missing on White's return mission. It's likely that she was taken by natives and integrated into their tribe, so her blood may very well flow through the veins of some modern Americans.

From Quiz Mystery at Roanoke Colony

Answer: North Carolina

It was on Roanoke Island, about 80 miles north of Cape Hatteras.

From Quiz The Mystery of John White

Answer: Granddaughter

Virginia (born 1587) was the daughter of Eleanor (born 1567), daughter of John White, and her husband Ananias Dare (born c. 1560), a tiler and bricklayer. Though there is no known portrait of her from life, her image would appear on the 1938 US commemorative half dollar issued for the 350th anniversary of the Roanoke colony. A male infant was also born to the English settlers at Roanoke but little is known about him, either.

From Quiz Roanoke: An Unsolved Mystery

Answer: One of the colonists was killed by the Indians

On July 28th 1587 the body of George Howe, assistant to Governor John White, was found in the woods about two miles from the settlement. He had been badly beaten and eventually shot with over ten arrows protruding from his body. The settlers understandably became nervous and White called a meeting with the leaders of the tribes, his aim being to stop hostilities between the Indians and the settlers. However, the meeting didn't go to plan and the next day White led an attack against the village of Dasamonquepeio. Unfortunately a number of women and children were killed and the leaders of the other tribes refused the settlers any more help. The colonists, afraid of reprisals, asked John White, upon his return to England to ask for help in defending their colony against the Indians, but he was never to see any of them again.

From Quiz Roanoke Island, "The Lost Colony"

Answer: Elizabeth I

He felt that he needed to expand her rule, so he sent people to build a colony in North America.

From Quiz Raleigh and Roanoke: 16th Century English America

Answer: The letters 'CRO' carved on another tree

The three letters 'CRO' were also found carved on a nearby tree, apparently an additional, unfinished 'CROATOAN'. The word Croatoan referred to a nearby island, but no evidence of the colonists was found there. The colonists were requested to carve a Maltese cross as a sign of trouble, but no cross carving was found. No trace of the colonists has ever been discovered, though theories abound.

From Quiz Mystery at Roanoke Colony

Answer: 116

90 men, 17 women and 9 children.

From Quiz The Mystery of John White

Answer: Two years

Even in the sixteenth century, a sea voyage from North Carolina to England and back should have been a matter of months, not over two and a half years. Shortly after his arrival, Queen Elizabeth issued a decree closing England to the departure of ships. (The next year - 1588 - saw the famed Spanish Armada.) When the decree was lifted, White's first attempt to sail back to Roanoke was stopped by French pirates. A second attempt would be more successful, but he would not return to Roanoke until the spring of 1590.

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