Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh

Name: Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh

He is a distant ancestor on my family tree.

January 22, 1552 or 1554, Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh was born in Hayes Barton, East Budleigh, Devon, England.

Links for Raleigh's birthplace:

1 http://www.britishexplorers.com/woodbury/hayesba.html

2 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Budleigh

3 http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/2698

October 29, 1618 is when Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh died. He was age 65. He died in London, England, when and where he was beheaded.

Occupation and title: Explorer, soldier, courtier, spy, poet, and writer.

Schooling: Oriol College, Oxford

Wife: He was married to Elizabeth Throckmorton.

Religion: Protestant

Children: Damerei, Walter "Wat," and Carew

His parents were: Walter Raleigh, Sr. and Catherine Champermowne.

1584 Queen Elizabeth I gave Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh Royal Charter to set up a colony in lands that are not Christian lands.

He gained favor with Queen Elizabeth I and she knighted him in 1585.

What should he be remembered for? He was instrumental in making a permanent English settlement in North America in Virginia.

1591 Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh married Elizabeth Throckmorton in secret. She was one of Queen Elizabeth the First's ladies-in-waiting. They did not have the queen's permission and because of this, both Walter and Elizabeth (his wife) were sent to the tower of London.

Links about the Tower of London:

1 http://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/#gs.6Mnef04

2 http://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/#gs.vyiyGNo

3 http://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/events-timeline/#gs.TfSH8YQ

4 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London

5 http://www.britainexpress.com/articles/London/tower-of-london.htm

6 http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/tower-of-london

When Walter was released from the Tower, they retired to his estate in Sherbourne, Dorset.

Links about Sherbourne, Dorset:

1 http://www.sherbornetown.com

2 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherborne

3 http://www.sherbornedorset.co.uk

4 http://www.sherbornedorset.co.uk/history-2/american-links/

Raleigh got into a fair amount of mischief or trouble. First, there was she's secret marriage. Then...

1594 Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh heard the reports of a city of gold located in South America. He sailed off to find it, but didn't, and he exaggerated his experiences, which led to the myth of El Dorado.

1603 Queen Elizabeth I died.

1603 Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh was imprisoned in the Tower of London because he was involved in a plot against King James I.

1616 Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh was released from the Tower of London so he could go on a second expedition looking for El Dorado. However, he found more trouble when members of his crew ransacked an outpost of Spain. To appease the Spanish, he was arrested and then executed later on October 29, 1618.

1600-1609 Timeline

Note: I will keep adding to this, so please make sure to check back here periodically.

1603

March 24, 1603 is when Queen Elizabeth I died. She died when she was 69 years old.

August 1594 to March 31, 1603 was the Nine Years' War (Gaelic Irish Chieftqins vs. England). It's also known as Tyrone's Rebellion.

April 28, 1603 is when Queen Elizabeth I  was buried at Westminster Abbey.

1603 Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh was imprisoned in the Tower of London because he was involved in a plot against King James I.

1606

1606 Sir Walter Raleigh received the high honor of being one of eight who received Letters Patents by King James I. This particular patent was to establish two colonies: the Plymouth Colony and the London Colony.

December 1606 Captain Christopher Newport of the London colony (aka the London Company) set sail.

1607

May 13, 1607 Captain Christopher Newporthe reached the Chesapeake Bay. Jamestown was founded.

May 31, 1607 Sir Walter Raleigh and George Popham of the Plymouth colony  (aka the Plymouth Company) left from Plymouth, England.

August 01, 1607 Sir Walter Raleigh and George Popham arrived in what we now call Maine. Many colonists died that winter there. MORE INFORMATION NEEDED HERE.

Down the Rabbit Hole and Up the Family Tree

Let me begin with the story of how all of this was set into motion. Remember from the last blog post that doing the family tree thing was just... well... not my cup of tea. It wasn't what I was interested in at all.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE AND UP THE FAMILY TREE

Four years ago, my Granny called me and told me how a family member was working on our family tree and how that family member discovered some interesting and unexpected information. Since Granny sounded interested in it, I was. But, that was the only reason.

After all, before my family member's search, here is what we knew: We knew that Granny's side was here in the U.S. for only four or five generations or so and my grandfather was the second generation. Therefore, we were relatively new to the United States.

Well, we have discovered since how what we thought we knew was not entirely true.

Granny brought to my attention, at this point, how we had a family member by the name of Bryan, Brian with a 'y' she said. At any rate, Bryan Penny lived in Elizabeth City, Virginia in 1670. "How close is that to where you live now?" She asked with hopeful anticipation.

Huh? Pardon? That sure caught my attention as I shrugged my shoulders. We were on the phone, so she couldn't see me.

"Do you know where that is?" She asked me before I could respond. Her excitement and curiosity was more than evident at this point. I couldn't let her down.

"I don’t have any idea. But, give me a moment. I can find out." My heart picked up its pace and I had the sense I just fell down a rabbit hole, but wasn't sure why.

Thank the Lord, I was at my desk so it was easy for me to do a quick Internet search and lo and behold, I discovered where I lived was what was once called Elizabeth Cittie, not to be confused with modern day Elizabeth City in North Carolina. "Granny, you won't believe this... It's right where I live."

We both chuckled.

"Well, isn't that something?" Granny asked, but it was more of a praise than a question.

My husband and I lived in the Tidewater area of Virginia, also known as Hampton Roads, near the cities of Hampton and Newport News, just north of Norfolk and across the bridge. We lived on the peninsula and had for about a year at this point.

The history in this part of Virginia is out of this world. It is a history lover's dream and it will make anyone who didn't like history like it. I was the latter, once again.

When we moved to the area, we had no idea about the true history, or the extent of the American history, in this place. Little did we know, but we woke up that first morning of our move in the true birthplace of the United States of America. Therefore, this only added to my intrigue.

Could our family have ties to Jamestown or to the battle of Yorktown in the American Revolutionary War? Just the thought seemed incredible to me. It was also the very thing that made me want to do more research.

"That's quite the surprise. So, no one knew we have been here in the States that long?" I asked as I searched online.

"It is a surprise. We had no idea." Granny sounded as excited about the prospect as I did.

"Huh. It looks like he was in Norfolk, which is about forty-five miles south and across the water and tunnel from here. It's where the Naval Yard is located. From what I can see, he was born there and died there."

"That is close, isn't it?"

It is... It looks like I need time to do some more research. How much has she gotten done with the tree?"

"Some, but not a great deal."

"Well, Granny... give me some time and will let you know what I discover."

That was all it took. I became obsessive over the next two weeks in order to get the most for the free access I had during that time and I bought one month of a subscription thereafter.

Sure enough. We had family members as Yorktown in the American Revolutionary War and at Jamestown a stand at last count, we had sixty-five members of our family executed at the Tower of London. Never mind the U.S. presidents and signers of the Declaration of Independence. There, also, have been numerous kings, queens, and emperors from several countries. All of which are interesting, but it's the lives of the more simple folk I tend to be most interested in. Who were they, what did they do, what was their life like, and what was their faith? It makes me quite curious.

It's the history I can learn from that also makes me even more intrigued. I cannot wait to explore American History through the eyes of my ancestors. It makes history real and come alive for me. And I hope it does the same for you.

WAS THE USA STARTED AS A CHRISTIAN NATION?

This is a question we will address as we learn the history of the USA from the history books and from my family tree.

REMEMBERED

Every person has thousands of stories over their life. I wish I had time to tell several stories of each individual so we could do what should be done. Every person has lived. Hence, they should be remembered. Granted, from some stories we can learn what to do from but from others, we can learn what to do. But, they should be remembered nonetheless. The more stories that are remembered, the more we learn the truth about history and what really happened and why.

Let's look back and see what brought the United States of America into existence, why, and how, and see what we can learn from and apply today.

Let's learn the stories and remember.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog.

It is a blog about how I have traced my family back to Jamestown, Virginia, as well as to several U.S. Presidents, signers of the Declaration of Independence, Nero, Adam, Joseph of Arimathea, Constantine, Charlemagne, the Plantagenets, the Tudors, etc.
I will share how I have traced my family tree, what it has meant to me, and how I have learned about roots, faith, and history through my family tree.