Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal:'Sir Walter Raleigh The Foundin…

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Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal:'Sir Walter Raleigh The Founding Of Virginia'

AssociatedAssociated with Lord Mountbatten of Burma (Frogmore House, Windsor, England, 1900 - 1979)

Medallist John Pinches, Medallists

DateMay 2004

Object NameMedal

MediumSterling Silver

ClassificationsMedals

Dimensions44mm

AcquisitionPresented in 2004 by Dr Joan M Burrell.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDMS072500.5

Keywords

About MeSir Walter Raleigh was the epitome of the Elizabethan age: soldier and sailor, poet and prose-writer, explorer and courtier, the man who inspired the foundation of an empire. Born of yeoman stock in Devonshire in 1552, he was the half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and the cousin of Sir Richard Grenville. Soon after his arrival in London he became a favourite at court, where he was appointed Captain of the Guard. His brilliant, if arrogant, career there ended abruptly when he married a lady-in-waiting against the Queen's wishes.

His interest in North America began with his support of Gilbert's attempt to colonise Newfoundland, a project for which his friend Richard Hakluyt was the propagandist. In 1584 he sent two captains, Amadas and Barlow, further south on a voyage of reconnaissance to Roanoke island, about 50 miles south of the Chesapeake. Encouraged by their reports, Raleigh raised sufficient funds to send Sir Richard Grenville in 1585 with five ships and 107 colonists to the land now called Virginia. The first governor was Ralph Lane and one of his subordinates was John White, whose vivid sketches of Indian life included a picture of the arrival of the ships. This was engraved by De Bry soon after Hakluyt had printed the first account. The settlement was not a success, so that the colonists accepted the offer of Sir Francis Drake to take them home the next year. Raleigh tried again in 1587, when White was sent out as governor. It was then that the first baby of English stock was born: Virginia Dare, White's grand-daughter. But the threat of the Spanish Armada interrupted supplies, and all remaining colonists died at the hands of the Indians.

In later life Raleigh's chief interests were establishing a colony in Ireland and exploring the Orinoco to discover the empire of El Dorado. He never lost hope of a Virginian colony, saying 'I shall yet live to see it an English nation.' He sent ships on a final voyage, but when they returned he was a prisoner in the Tower of London, charged by James I with high treason. It was not until after the foundation of the Virginian Company in 1607 and the settlement at Jamestown by Captain John Smith that his vision became a fact. Raleigh was executed in 1618

The Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea, John Pinches Medallists Ltd.