ReturnCALENDAR OF STATE PAPERS, COLONIAL SERIES 1574 TO 1660 Richard was the son of Roger Lane. |
Richard Lane Stories |
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Richard Lane 1596-1656 Captain Richard Lane was born & baptized in St. Peter's Church Hereford Herefordshire Eng on 27aug1596 & died 1656 or 1657 off the coast of Eleuthera Providence West Indies. He belonged to a distinguished English family who were closely tied to the royal house of Stuart. Richard’s brother, John Lane, served as colonel with the king's forces & after the Battle of Worcester, sheltered Charles II at his home until the monarch was conducted to safety by Richard’s sister, Jane Lane. When Richard was 7 his father died leaving his mother to raise 8 children, ages 1 to 12; there is no record of her remarrying. At some point he moved to Cheapside London where in 1613 he was apprenticed for 7 years to Nathaniel Thornhull, a London Merchant Taylor. [Cheapside was a warren of twist-ing, narrow streets & alleys in the oldest part of the city with thoroughfares with ancient 3&4 story medieval houses of plaster and timber, often containing shops in their first floors. The upper stories of these venerable buildings were built out over the streets giving a closed-in, intimate feel.] Richard was a member of All Hallows Bread Street (a place of worship in Bread Street Ward Cheapside London); the church that his uncle, John Lane (a grocer & an elder in All Hallows Bread Street) & John’s son John Jr attended (John Jr was a wealthy member of the powerful Grocer's Guild in London & willed a silver plate to this church in 1670. In 1620 Richard completed his apprenticeship & joined the merchant class of London (his fee paid) as a freeman of the Merchant Taylor Livery Company (Fraternity of Linen Armourer). [This was an important institution of the time; a combination of a fraternal order, corporation, trade union & regulatory agency. All who practiced this trade had to belong to the Merchant Taylors. The company's authority extended to the general welfare with rules against rent gouging of fellow members, growing beards, playing football, & marriage to daughters of men outside the company. But if Richard had been reduced to poverty or had experienced hard times the company would have helped him with money from a common fund.] In 1623, Richard had prospered enough to take a wife; he married in St. Mildred Poultry Cheapside London to Alice Carter. (For more info on these 2 churches see separate story.) Alice was born 24aug1603 & was baptized at Saint Mildred Poultry in the County of London Eng & died 4sept1678 in London Eng. She was the daughter of Humphrey Carter 1575London Eng-1621 a member of the Iron Monger Livery Company (mother not known). Alice's sister, Hanna Carter, married Richard's brother, John Lane; making John Jr & Richard double 1st cousins. Richard was a man who knew his mind and didn't conceal his views; in 1631 he was reviewed as a Puritan for his unorthodox, non-conformist beliefs. Through merchant & religious contacts in London, Richard became involved in the workings of the Company of Adventurers for the Plantation of the Islands of Providence - a company formed to exploit Providence. Richard was the protégé of Robert Greville, known as Lord Brooke, the largest investor in the company. (Brooke was a deeply religious man & a talented writer; who commanded the armies of Warwickshire & Staffordshire & later the Puritan army in Ireland.) Richard sailed with 8 servants to Providence West Indies in 1633 when he was contracted to establish on Providence a place to grow Dyers Madder, a plant that is used as a red dye for fabric & for medicinal uses. Richard only remained in the area less than a year as this project was a failure. Richard did receive compensation for his troubles; his wife Alice, residing in London, received 10 pounds from the Company on 17nov1633 for a half year's wages due her husband; & a year later, Richard would receive another fifteen pounds for his service at the Bay of Darien. Payment in currency was the exception rather than the rule, for the adventurers preferred to pay their men with indentured servants or slaves. In 1634 Richard returned to London where the company asked him to return to Providence; to draw up a report of needed reforms; & a special committee made Richard a Councilor. So, in 1641 he again sailed for Providence with his wife, 4 sons & a maid aboard “Ye Expectation” landing at New Westminster. This settlement consisted of 30 wooden buildings and a brick church with a population of 500 English males, a few Dutch men, about 40 white women &children & 90 slaves. Shortly after their arrival his 4th child was born making little Mary Lane a Creole and probably the first Lane born in the New World. Richard helped to defend the island from a Spanish invasion in 1640 - an abortive raid by Spanish ships from Panama that caused the company to grant priratering licenses. This worried the Puritans who feared the Spaniards would become even more determined to extinguish the fledgling settlement. There were constant financial difficulties and continual friction between the devout Puritans and the more worldly members of the colony & between colonists & military men. In 1638 , Richard was investigated when a large & valuable supply of goods he was in charge of was mishandled. The island's councilors were ordered to seize his lands & property & stop paying him. However Richard did remain in the colony for another year & half; until in 1641 he was expelled from the company for selling the servants allotted him; & he was taken as prisoner on the “Hopewell” to Eng. Being cleared of this charge, Richard again went to Providence where he resumed his role as Councilor. No further info is known about Richard except that he & his 25 year old son Oziell drowned when their ship sunk in a tempest in 1656 or 1657 off the coast of Eleuthera. Richard had been taylor (tailor), sea captain, explorer, planter, Councilor & merchant trader. After the deaths of her husband & son, Alice took the family back to Eng where she petitioned Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector, for the sum of 702 pounds, for recompense for her family's suffering & her husband's past services to Eng. This sum was not granted but she was given a monthly pension of 10 shillings. 12 years later she died in London & was buried 4sept1678 in the graveyard of All Hallows Bread Street. Her will written 22 August 1678 & proved on 22 October 1678; mentions a grandson Thomas Denne & granddaughters Elizabeth Denne & Alice Denne & son-in-law William Denne, his wife &children (his 2nd wife, Mary Lane was buried 1674 at All Hallows, Bread Street). Richard & Alice had 5 children: Samuel 1628-1681, John 1631-1674, Joseph 1631-1674, Oziell 1638-1657, & Mary 1642-1674. Sources: 1) A Reminiscence Sung 1559-1999 by Walt Whitman Published by Fredrick Schultz,2000 Book 1 The Ancestors of Wilkinson Lane; 2) CALENDAR OF STATE PAPERS, COLONIAL SERIES 1574 TO 1660 pp. 155, 159. 161, 162 -167. 3) Dorman, John Frederick. Genealogical of Virginia Families, Volume I, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981 pg 162 4) THE LANE FAMILY THE DESCENDANTS OF MAJOR SAMUEL LANE PART 1 COMPILED BY LARRY A. JAMES 1986 5) The Chattanooga Times: Chattanooga, Tenn., Sunday, May 13, 1934 “LEAVES FROM THE FAMILY TREE... LANE” By Penelope Johnson Allen, Tenn Genealogical Society, D.A.R. 6) “Major Samuel Lane, 1628-1681” by A Russle Slagle printed in MD HISTORICAL MAGAZINE Annapolis MD; 1979. |
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CALENDAR OF STATE PAPERS, COLONIAL
SERIES 1574 TO 1660 pp. 155, 159. 161, Richard Lane, b. 1596, and his wife Alice Carter emigrated with their family to Providence Island in the West Indies. It is uncertain whether Richard and Alice ever settled on the mainland, but their sons Samuel and Joseph, established branches of the Lane family in what would become the southern United States (Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina). The Tortugas, mentioned in the text, are small islands about 50 miles west of Key West, Florida. Providence Island is probably in the Bermuda Islands, quite possibly the same as "New Providence Island," where Nassau, the current capital of the Bahamas, is located. This speculation is strengthened by the fact that Richard and his son Oziell are supposed to have drowned off Eleuthera Island, one of the Bermudas.] 1632, August 31 - A letter from Thomas Wiggin to Master Downing. Hopes one Lane, a merchant tailor, who has been in the West Indies, will talk with Mr. Humphreys concerning a certain staple commodity which he desires to plant in New England. 1633, Feb 15 - Minutes of a Court for Providence Island. Agreement with Mr. Lane to ship himself in the Company's pinnace for Fonseca, or if that island be not discovered to Providence, to plant his madder, teach his skill to the inhabitants, and be an agent for the Company in other parts of the Indies. A pattern of drugs and commodities likely to be procured in the Indies to be "sent along with the Indian" for their better discovery. 1633, Feb. 18 - Eight more servants assigned to Mr. Lane to be sent to Fonseca. 1633, Mar 26 - After debate the intended voyage to Fonseca is respited; the pinnace to be forthwith dispatched to Providence and touching at Association to take in Capt. Hilton and such as he may appoint for discovery of trade in the Bay of Darien. Mr. Hook to have his full number of servants, Mr. Lane but six, with an addition by the next ship. |
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Richard was the son of Roger Lane. (Top) We can assume Richard grew up in the City of Hereford. There is no record that his young widowed mother remarried. Richard must have left Hereford and come to London as a very young man. On December 14, 1613, he apprenticed to Nathaniel Thornhill for seven years. Thornhill was a merchant tailor by trade. On February 26, 1620, at 24 years old, Richard was admitted a freeman to the Merchant Tailor Co. He apparently prospered in his trade. On October 7, 1623, Richard married Alice Carter at London. Richard's religious beliefs appear to have been unorthodox and with a Puritan leaning. He was not secretive about his opinions. This was during a period when the Church of England and Authorities of the Crown were persecuting the Puritans. In October 1631, there was an "Examination of Richard Lane" by authorities. This examination worried Richard. He was fearful of what the future might bring to he and his family. His children were coming along, Samuel in 1628, John in 1631 and Oziell in 1632. As a result, he arranged for a trip to the West Indies as a representative of the Company of Providence Island, a quasi-governmental oganization formed to exploit the Colony. Richard reached Providence Island in 1635. He was assigned to introduce and supervise growing madder (a small plant, the root of which was to make a red dye). During his stay on the Island, 1635-1657, he had his ups and downs. For most of the period, he appears to have been in the good graces of the Company. In 1641, he came under criticism for his Puritanical religious views. He, along with two clergymen, were ordered arrested and brought to trial in London. At the hearing, the charges were found unmerited and Lane was returned to his duties. Later in 1641, he was unsuccessfully nominated Governor of Providence Island. Sometime before August 1657, Richard and his son, Oziell, were drowned at Providence Island. |
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Transactions of Company of Providence Island, Bahama Islands From 1635 To 1641
Prior to Richard bringing his family to Providence Island in 1635, the Company of Providence Island recommended he be elected to the Council of Providence and over some objections he was elected. The company also asked Richard to put in writing some information he had concerning miscarriages of the Providence government. By 1638 there was a question by the Company of Providence about Richard's lack of account for a large amount of valuable goods given to him by Lord Brooke. There is no record of the outcome of this inquiry. In 1640 Gov. Nathaniel Butler appointed Capt. Andrew Carter to suceed him. The people pled their right to choose their own governor and nominated Capt. Richard Lane ( no record of how Richard became a Captain). Capt. Carter had Richard Lane and 2 ministers arrested for not following the Church of England's "liturgy and ceremonies" and sent them to England to face charges by Archbishop Laud. When they arrived in England Archbishop Laud was in the custody of the Black Rod and all charges against the prisoners were dismissed and the prisoners returned to Providence Island. |
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Gov. Nathaniel Butler's Diary, Bahama Islands1639
Gov. Nathaniel Butler made entries in his diary that suggested he and Richard Lane were good friends and dined at each other's homes. One entry,"15 March 1639, I dined at Mr. Lane's with most of the counsell for ye Islands", seems to indicate that Richard was a member of that Council as was suggested in a 1635 entry in "Great Britain's Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, 1574 to 1660". |