Dare, Virginia (b. 1587)

Colonial figure and first child born of English parents in America. Born on August 18, 1587, on Roanoke Island (now North Carolina); date of death unknown; daughter of Ananias Dare (a bricklayer) and Elyonor also seen as Ellinor or Elenor (White) Dare (daughter of Governor John White).

Virginia Dare, daughter of Ananias and Elenor Dare , was the first child born of English parents in America. Elenor and Ananias were among the 116 pilgrims to accompany cartographer and painter John White on his British expedition to Sir Walter Raleigh's Virginia colony, so named after Queen Elizabeth I , the "Virgin Queen." When the expedition left Plymouth, England, on May 8, 1587, Elenor Dare, daughter of White, was one of only 17 women on board and was probably six months pregnant with her first child. After an arduous journey, the expedition missed its intended destination of mainland Virginia, landing instead on Roanoke Island, where Virginia Dare was born a month later. The child was christened on Sunday, August 24; three days later, John White sailed for England to report on the settlement.

War between Spain and England delayed his return to Roanoke for four years, and when he landed again in 1590 there was no trace of the settlement or its inhabitants. Reputedly, the only clue left was a cryptic inscription of the word "Croatoan" carved on a tree. Some historians believe that the message may have meant that the colonists had joined a friendly Croatoan tribe on the mainland, while others argue that the word was hurriedly scratched into the tree as the Croatoans attacked. Although the fate of the "lost colony" was never determined, Virginia Dare came to symbolize faith in the throes of adversity. Some have suggested that Elenor Dare, the colonist who undertook the sea voyage while pregnant, should also be remembered as a symbol of courage.