Big Chief Elizabeth

In the 1580s, Walter Raleigh’s backers sent a succession of English expeditions to the coast of present-day North Carolina. They hoped to establish a privateering base, discover profitable commodities and extend Elizabeth I’s influence into lands already inhabited by Algonquian-speaking peoples. Giles Milton follows the navigators, soldiers, settlers and interpreters involved in the ventures, including Manteo and Wanchese, whose journey to England exposed both sides to unfamiliar expectations and political calculations.

The final expedition left John White’s colony on Roanoke Island in 1587. War with Spain delayed White’s return until 1590, when he found the settlement abandoned and the word “Croatoan” carved at the site. The book reconstructs the colony’s planning, strained relations with neighbouring communities and uncertain fate, treating Roanoke not simply as a mystery but as an early encounter shaped by imperial ambition, cultural misunderstanding and the settlers’ dependence on Indigenous knowledge.