The first two voyages (1584 and 1585) were comprised entirely of men. The third (1587) voyage included men, women and boys. There were no girls until Virginia Dare was born on Roanoke Island on August 18th, 1587. She was the daughter of Ananias and Eleanor White Dare. Eleanor White Dare was the daughter of Governor John White, who led the colony. The majority of the colonists were male. According to the ships' lists, some of the women shared the last name of some of the men. This could mean that married couples were part of the colony make-up, or possibly brothers and sisters. Some of the men would have been artisans with skills that were needed to forge a new life in a new country, some would have had military skills. Some, quite possibly, were servants. The women would have filled the traditional female roles of that time period - midwife, servant, homemaker (although that term was not used at that time).
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