John White (c.1537 - after 1593) was sent by Sir Richard Grenville as Sir Walter Raleigh's surveyor-general on his first voyage to the New World (1585-6). During this journey he made numerous sketches of the landscape and people they encountered (including the one below). These works are significant as they pre-date the first body of "discovery voyage art" created in the late eighteenth century by the artists who sailed with Captain James Cook.

White later became governor of the newly established Roanoke Colony. The first baby born there was his granddaughter, Virginia Dare. When the colony ran low on supplies, White returned to England for provisions. His passage was delayed by the Spanish Armada, and when he at last returned to Roanoke in August of 1590 he found it deserted. After vainly searching the adjacent islands for the colonists, he arrived in Plymouth on October 24 of that year.

Little is known of his life after the mysterious failure of the Roanoke Colony. The last surviving document mentioning of White dates to 1593. However, there is a record from May of 1606 of a Bridgit White being appointed estate administrator for her brother "John White." This record suggests that White may have died in 1606.

External links

• Heritage Education Program Web Page about John White
• The American Drawings of John White