What was claimed by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583 as Britain's first overseas colony?
English overseas possessions August 1578 claimed another Elizabeth Island, in the Straits of Magellan. In 1579, he landed on the north coast of California, claiming the area for Elizabeth as "New Albion". However, these claims were not followed up by settlements. In 1578, while Drake was away on his circumnavigation, Queen Elizabeth granted a patent for overseas exploration to his half-brother Humphrey Gilbert, and that year Gilbert sailed for the West Indies to engage in piracy and to establish a colony in North America. However, the expedition was abandoned before the Atlantic had been crossed. In 1583, Gilbert sailed to Newfoundland, where in
Humphrey Gilbert Humphrey Gilbert Sir Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539 – 9 September 1583) of Compton in the parish of Marldon and of Greenway in the parish of Churston Ferrers, both in Devon, England, was an adventurer, explorer, member of parliament and soldier who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and was a pioneer of the English colonial empire in North America and the Plantations of Ireland. He was a uterine half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh and a cousin of Sir Richard Grenville. Gilbert was the fifth son of Otho Gilbert of Compton, Greenway and Galmpton, all in Devon, by his