John White

Who was John White?

John White was an English artist, and an early pioneer of English efforts to settle the New World. He was among those who sailed with Richard Grenville to North Carolina in 1585, acting as artist and mapmaker to the expedition. During his time at Roanoke Island he made a number of watercolor sketches of the surrounding landscape and the native Algonkin peoples. These works are significant as they are the most informative illustrations of a Native American society of the Eastern seaboard; the surviving original watercolors are now stored in the print room of the British Museum.

Later, in 1587, White became governor of Sir Walter Raleigh's failed attempt at a permanent settlement on Roanoke island, known to history as the "Lost Colony". This unsuccessful effort represented the earliest attempt at a permanent English colony in the New World, and White's granddaughter Virginia Dare was the first English child born in the New World. After the failure of the Lost Colony, White retired to Raleigh's estates in Ireland, reflecting upon the "evils and unfortunate events" which had ruined his hopes in America, though never giving up hope that his daughter and granddaughter were still alive.