Walter Raleigh

The marriage was kept secret from the Queen. However, the surreptitious nature of the affair could not stand for long as the Queen came to know of the illegal marriage a year later. Furious at the do, she dismissed Bess from court and imprisoned them.

It was only in August 1592 that he was released from prison to help set up an expedition for an attack on the Spanish coast. She was released a couple of months later in December.

The exact year as to when Walter Raleigh was born is questionable. While historians claim it to be somewhere around 1552, the Oxford Dictionary assumes it to be 1554. However, one thing which is certain is that he was born in Devon, England, to Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne.

Belonging to a Protestant family, he developed a religious contention against Roman Catholics since an early age.

He gained his education from Oxford University before serving in the Hugenot army in France. In 1575, he was registered at the Middle Temple.

From 1579, he took part in the suppression of the Desmond Rebellions. He was awarded with 40,000 acres of land including those of the coastal areas of Youghal and Lismore after the seizure and distribution.

In 1581, he returned to England and became active in court life. It was due to his ruthlessness at the siege of Smerwick and plantation of English and Scots Protestants in Munster that he was knighted in 1585. Furthermore, he was given trade privileges and the right to colonize America.

In 1581, he was appointed warden of the mines of Cornwall and Devon, Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, and vice-admiral of the two counties. For a year, from 1585 to 1586, he even sat in the parliament as the member of Devonshire.

In the year 1592, he yet again received numerous rewards from the Queen, including the Durham House in the Strand and the estate of the Sherborne, Dorset. He was appointed Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard.

In 1588, he took on the seat of the Vice Admiral of Devon, and was in charge of looking after the coastal defences and military levies. During his seventeen years of tenure as the Irish landlord, Youghal served to be his occasional home. From 1588 to 1589, he served as the mayor of the town.

This English aristocrat and explorer and author of ‘The Discovery of Guiana’ was responsible for introducing potatoes and tobacco smoking in Britain.