John White (colonist and artist)

John White
The return of Governor White to the "Lost Colony"
Born	c.1540 London, England
Died	1593 (aged 52-53) Location unknown, possibly County Cork, Ireland
Nationality	English
Education	Unknown
Known for	Painting, Drawing,
Patron(s)	Sir Walter Raleigh

John White (c. 1540 – c. 1593) was an English artist and early pioneer of English efforts to settle North America. He was among those who sailed with Richard Grenville to the shore of present-day North Carolina in 1585, acting as artist and mapmaker to the expedition.

During his time at Roanoke Island he made a number of watercolor sketches of the surrounding landscape and the native Algonkin peoples. These works are significant as they are the most informative illustrations of a Native American society of the Eastern seaboard; the surviving original watercolors are now preserved in the print room of the British Museum.

In 1587, White became governor of Sir Walter Raleigh's failed attempt at a permanent settlement on Roanoke Island, known to history as the "Lost Colony". This was the earliest effort to establish a permanent English colony in the New World. White's granddaughter Virginia Dare was the first English child born in the Western Hemisphere.

After the failure of the colony, White retired to Raleigh's estates in Ireland, reflecting upon the "evils and unfortunate events" which had ruined his hopes in America, though never giving up hope that his daughter and granddaughter were still alive.

John White's exact date of birth is unknown but it seems likely he was born some time between 1540 and 1550. There is a record dated February 22, 1539, of a christening in the Church of St Augustine, London, of a "John White" on that same day; but there is no proof this is the same person. White is known to have attended church in the parish of St. Martin Ludgate in London. In 1566 he married Tomasyn Cooper; with whom he had a son, Tom, who died young, and a daughter Eleanor. Little is known of White's training as an artist but it is possible that he apprenticed as an illustrator under a London master.