Richard Lane

brief biography

Richard Lane, b. 1596, and his wife Alice Carter emigrated with their family to Providence Island, a small island off the coast of Nicaragua. It is doubtful that Richard and Alice ever settled on the mainland of America, but their son Samuel established a branch of the Lane family in what would become the southern United States (Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina).

Richard was the son of Roger Lane. 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 him 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 organization 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, 1635-1642, 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 Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. His widow, Alice, petitioned the Company for payments in arrears and a pension. The petition was approved and the widow and children returned to London. One of their sons, Samuel, a direct ancestor, probably had returned earlier for his education.

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Given name has also been reported to be Richard Percy.

Date and place of birth have also been (erroneously?) reported to be before August 17, 1596 at Hereford, Herefordshire, England.

Date and place of death have also been (erroneously?) reported to be an unspecified date in West Indies (now Trinidad and Tobago).

sources

• Great Britain. Public Record Office. William Noel Sainsbury, ed., Calendar of state papers: Colonial series, 1574-1660 (Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, London, England, 1860; Google Books, Digital images), Vol. I.
• Kupperman, Karen, Providence Island 1630 - 1641: The Other Puritan Colony (Cambridge University Press, 1995).
• Schultz, Frederick V., A Reminiscence Sung 1559-1999 (Schultz, Frederick V., Waynesboro, Virginia, 2000).
• Slagle, A. Russell, Major Samuel Lane (1628-81): His Ancestry and Some American Descendants (Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, Maryland, 1976; Ancestry.com, Digital images), Vol. II.

links

• https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L23V-38V/richard-lane-1596-1657
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/188661281/richard-lane
• https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/l/a/r/Howard-J-Larson/WEBSITE-0001/UH...