Ingram in the 1580s

Abstract Humphrey Gilbert received permission from the queen to continue pursuit of his colonizing ambitions. David Ingram was called in for interrogation as part of this effort. George Peckham had his own agenda, the establishment of a Catholic colony in America. To that end he deployed falsified evidence regarding Mexican and Welsh sources that purported to justify the plan. Peckham subsequently hired David Ingram to assist in this effort. Ingram also volunteered to sail with Humphrey Gilbert. It turned out to be Gilbert’s last voyage. All but one of the ships were lost, but Ingram survived on a new Golden Hind. Gilbert’s half-brother, Walter Ralegh took up the colonization effort and hired Thomas Harriot and John White to conduct linguistic and cultural research among the Virginia Algonquians of coastal Carolina. The initial effort failed, and most of the settlers on Roanoke Island were rescued by Francis Drake. Ralegh launched a new effort on Roanoke Island, this time headed by the artist John White. This too failed after White returned to England for supplies. The Roanoke colony thus became the famous Lost Colony, for the people left there disappeared. The approach of the Spanish Armada put a temporary end to searching. David Ingram probably participated in the huge battle in the English Channel, but with that he faded into history.