Return of the First Settlers

In 1586 Sir Fancis Drake sailed into Portsmouth carrying home the disillusioned settlers from Sir Walter Raleigh's first settlement to Virginia. Their leader, Ralph Lane, is credited with bringing potatoes and tobacco into the Town. Lane and his crew smoked the tobacco to the wonder of the local inhabitants. The collections of the Portsmouth Museum Service include a pipe from this date possibly manufactured at nearby Oyster Street where archeological excavations have discovered one of the earliest pipe manufacturers in the country. To find out more about this ill fated colony: http://www.btinternet.com/~richard.towers/jim/raleigh1.html Ralph Lane was knighted and in 1588 appointed Captain of Southsea Castle.

First Imports

Portsmouth has always had strong links with new worlds. Ralph Lane in 1586 is famously credited with bringing tobacco and potatoes back from Virginia, in the reign of Edward III oranges first arrived from Spain, and it is believed that bananas were also first introduced through Portsmouth. If so, a fitting tribute would be that Fyffes, one of the largest importers of bananas, has its base in the City today.