Sir Ralph Lane (c. 1532 – October 1603) was an English explorer of the Elizabethan era. He helped colonise the Kingdom of Ireland in 1583 and was sheriff of County Kerry, Ireland, from 1583 to 1585. He was part of the unsuccessful attempt in 1585 to colonise Roanoke Island, North Carolina. He was knighted by the Queen in 1593. Early life and education According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, his parents were Sir Ralph Lane of Orlingbury, Hogshaw and Horton, a brother of Maud Lane and a cousin of Catherine Parr, the last queen consort of Henry VIII. Lane's seal bore the arms of Lane of Horton (Cal State Papers Ireland 15 March 1598–9), and the arms assigned him by Burke quarter these with those of Maud Parr (General Armoury). In his correspondence, he speaks of nephews William and Robert Lane (Cal State Papers Ireland 26 Dec 1592, 7 June 1595), of a kinsman John Durrant (ib) and is associated with a Mr Feilding (ib 23 June 1593), all of whom appear in the Lane pedigree (Blore Hist. and Antig. of Rutlandshire p 169). William Feilding married Dorothy Lane, a daughter of Sir Ralph Lane of Horton, and John Durrant was the husband of Catherine, her first cousin." Career Lane was made Member of Parliament for Higham Ferrers in 1556. The choice was surprising, though it may be explained by the connections Lane had in the area, including with the Sheriff of Northamptonshire as well as his London residence, intended to be less costly than if he had served from Higham Ferrers itself. Lane began serving the Crown in 1563 as an equerry under Queen Elizabeth I. His duties as an officer of the Royal Household included law enforcement and collection of customs duties. He served against the northern rebels in 1569, was commissioner of piracy in 1571 and a captain in the Netherlands in 1572–3. He was elected Member of Parliament for Higham Ferrers in 1558 and for Northampton in 1563. Roanoke colony Lane is best remembered for his attempt to establish a settlement on Roanoke Island at the request of Sir Walter Raleigh. Queen Elizabeth was looking for places to colonise and the Americas appeared ripe for English expansion. The voyage began on 9 April 1585, when Lane set sail from Plymouth with Raleigh's cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, a sailor who upon return to England wrote