RALEGH, or RALEIGH, Sir WALTER (c.1552-1618). An English courtier, navigator, and explorer. He was the son of Walter Ralegh of Fardell, near Plymouth, in Devonshire, and studied for a time at Oxford. In 1569 he was in the Huguenot army at the battle of Jarnac, and he seems to have spent SOThe five years in France. In 1577 he was among the hangers-on at Court, and in 1578 he sailed with a small fleet belonging to his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gil bert, upon an alleged 'voyage of discovery,' though the capture of Spanish galleons was prob ably the real object iu view. During 1580-81 Ralegh was a captain in the Irish service, and was a member of a commission for governing Munster. Upon his arrival at Court with Irish dispatches in December, 1581, his handsome presence and address attracted the attention of Queen Elizabeth. Within a few years lie had re ceived appointments and grants which placed him among the most wealthy courtiers. As vice admiral of the western counties of England, he was in constant touch with the buccaneering ex peditions against Spain, which sailed under pre tended commissions from the Prince of Condo or William of Orange. lie invested heavily in Sir Humphrey Gilbert's unfortunate expedition to Newfoundland in 1583 and after the latter's death applied to the Queen for a continuation of his pat ent. The privileges obtained entitled him to fit out expeditions for a period of six years and to take possession of unknown lands, in the name of the Queen. In 1584 Ralegh sent .Amadas and Barlow to find a place for a settlement. As the Queen refused to allow Ralegli to leave England, lie fitted out an expedition consisting of seven ships which sailed in 1585 under the escort of his cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, and planted a set tlement on Roanoke Island. on the Caro lina coast, with Ralph Lane (q.v.), as Governor. In June, 1586, however, the settlement was abandoned. Grenville left a new' party of colonists, which was re inforced by settlers from England in the year fol lowing under John White, but ships sent out by Ralegh failed to reach the colony, and when, in 1590, a relief expedition finally arrived at Roa noke all trace of the settlement had disappeared. Although the colony was a failure, the enterprise resulted in the introduction of the potato and of tobacco into England.
During1587 and 1588,when Spanish invasion was threatened, Ralegh was one of a commission to draw up a plan for the defense of the country, and performed important services in levying and forming the militia in the west of England. It is not probable that he took any part in the actions• against the Armada. Ralegh was not, as is fre quently stated, with Drake in the Portugal ex pedition, in 15S9; but at that time was in Ire land, where his friendship with the poet Spenser was formed. In 1591 he was made second in com mand of an expedition under Lord Thomas How ard to intercept the Spanish plate fleet. Again the Queen refused to let him leave England, and his place was taken by Sir Richard Grenville. In 1592 another expedition was equipped. Ralegh had obtained permission to command in person, but was, at the last moment, recalled and im prisoned in the Tower, because of an intrigue.
with a maid of honor, Elizabeth Throgmorton, which had become known to the Queen. There lie remained from July to September, when the' expedition returned. Ralegh was permitted to marry, although forbidden to come to Court. In 1593 he sat in Parliament as member for Corn wall. In 1594 he sent out an expedition in search of El Dorado (q.v.), which he conceived to be situated in the interior of South America, upon the Orinoco, in the country then designated as Guayana, or Guiana. The effort was unsuccess ful, and Ralegh determined to go himself. He fitted out five ships—chiefly at his own expense— and obtained a commission from the Queen to wage war against the Spaniards. He penetrated into the interior, going up the Orinoco a distance of more than 400 miles, but was obliged to return for supplies. Upon reaching England he pub lished his Diseoecric of Guiana (1596). He brought back quartz containing gold, and the first mahogany seen in England. An expedition was sent against Cadiz in 1596 in which Ralegh dis tinguished himself by gallantry in action. In 1597 lie was one of the commanders of a fleet sent to the Azores to intercept the Spanish treasure ships. Many valuable prizes were secured. The next, few years were passed in administrative. duties, as member of Parliament, and as Gov ernor of .Jersey.
For many years Ralegh had active and power ful enemies at Court, and although even Essex, Howard, and Cecil could not permanently dis credit him in the eyes of Queen Elizabeth, he met with nothing but ill treatment at the hands of James I. His posts and grants of monopoly were withdrawn, and a few months after the King's accession (1603) he was sent to the Tower on the charge of being privy to the plots contrived against the King's person by Lord Cob ham and the Spanish agent, Count Arembcrg. Be was condemned under the harsh procedure of lersa majestas trials, for failing to produce con spicuous proofs of innocence. A reprieve was granted, and his personal property restored, but he still remained a prisoner in the Tower until his petition to be allowed to lead another expedi tion to the Orinoco was granted, in 1616. The Spanish Ambassador protested, and Ralegh was ordered not to engage in any hostilities against the Spaniards, on penalty of his life. He sailed on June 17, 1617, and encountered an unbroken series of misfortunes. During the voyage the Spanish settlement of San Tomas was attacked and destroyed. Upon his return to England he was at once arrested, and after some deliberation was executed, by virtue of the former sentence, on October 29, 1618. During his long imprison ment in the Tower he wrote the History of the 1l'orld, one of the monuments of Elizabethan lit erature. He also wrote treatises on religious and philosophical subjects, and several poems of merit. The chief lives of Ralegh are those by Stebbing (1891), Edmund Gosse (1886), and Edward Edwards (1868), who also pub lished Ralegh's letters.