(1587–?), Colonial figure. Virginia Dare was born on Aug. 18, 1587, on Roanoke Island, now in North Carolina. She was the first child born in America of English parents. Her parents, Eleanor and Ananias Dare, were among the more than 100 persons accompanying Eleanor's father, Governor John White, on his second colonizing expedition to the island. Nine days after Virginia's birth, Governor White sailed to England for supplies. Delayed a year because of the war with Spain, White found no trace of the colonists when he returned to the island.