Sir Walter, fourth son of Mr Walter Raleigh of Fardel, in the parish of Cornwood in Devonshire, was born in 1552 at Hayes, in the parish of East Budleigh, a farm belonging to his father. About the year 1568 he was sent to Oriel College, Oxford, where he continued but a short time. He became one of the hundred volunteers, commanded by Henry Champsernon, who, with other English troops, were sent by Queen Elizabeth to assist the Queen of Navarre in defending the Protestants. He has described some of the great battles in which he was engaged in his History of the World. In 1577 or 1578 he proceeded to the Low Countries with the troops sent by the queen to assist the Dutch against the Spaniards, and probably shared the glory of the decisive victory obtained over Don John of Austria in 1578. On his return to England, a new enterprise engaged his attention. His half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, having obtained a patent to plant and inhabit some parts of North America, Raleigh embarked in this adventure; but meeting with a Spanish fleet, after a smart engagement, they returned without success in 1579.

The following year the King of Spain, in conjunction with the Pope, having projected a total conquest of the English dominions, sent troops to Ireland to assist the Desmonds in the Munster rebellion. Raleigh obtained a captain's commission under Lord Grey of Wilton, then deputy of Ireland, and embarked for that kingdom, where he greatly distinguished himself both for bravery and for skill. He returned to England, and attracted the notice of Queen Elizabeth, owing, as we are told in Naunton's Fragments Regalia, to the following accidental piece of gallantry:—The queen, as she was one day taking a walk, being stopped by a soft place in the road, Raleigh immediately took off his new plush mantle, and spread it on the ground. Her majesty trod gently over the soft foot-cloth. Surprised and pleased with the adventure, and much struck by the noble appearance of the young soldier, she admitted him to her court, and employed him first as an attendant on the French ambassador Simier, upon his return home, and afterwards to escort the Duke of Anjou to Antwerp. During this excursion he became personally known to the Prince of Orange, from whom, at his return, he brought special acknowledgments to the queen, who now frequently conversed with him. But the inactive life of a courtier did not suit the enterprising spirit of Raleigh. He took advantage of his favour with the queen to obtain in 1584 a patent empowering him to possess such countries as he should discover on the continent of North America. Accordingly he fitted out at his own expense two ships, which sailed in the month of April, and returned to England about the middle of September, reporting that they had discovered and taken possession of a fine country, to which the queen gave the name of Virginia. About this time he was elected knight of the shire for the county of Devon, and soon afterwards received the honour of knighthood. To enable him to carry on his designs abroad, the queen granted him a patent for licensing the vendors of wine throughout the kingdom. In 1585 he sent a new expedition to Virginia, commanded by his relation Sir Richard Greenville, who left a colony at Roanok of 107 persons, under the government of Lane; and by the establishment of this colony he was enabled to import tobacco into England. In the same year Sir Walter Raleigh obtained a grant of 12,000 acres of the forfeited lands in the county of Cork in Ireland, which, instead of yielding him any profit, cost the proprietor £200 a year to keep them from invasion and havoc. This consideration induced Raleigh to sell his lands to Boyle, afterwards Earl of Cork. About the same time he was made seneschal of the duchy of Cornwall, and warden of the stannaries.

In the year 1587 he sent another colony to Virginia; but his various undertakings and offices obliged him to assign his patent to a company, and the plan of colonizing was by them speedily relinquished; so that the unfortunate colonists were left to their fate. About this time we find Raleigh distinguished by the titles of "Captain of the Queen's Guards," and "Lieutenant-General of Cornwall." From this period to the year 1594 he was continually engaged in projecting new expeditions, defending the kingdom from the insults of the Spaniards, and transacting parliamentary business, with equal ability and resolution. Sir Walter fell under the queen's displeasure on account of an alleged intrigue with the daughter of Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, one of the maids of honour; however, he married the lady, and lived with her in great conjugal harmony. During his disgrace at court he projected the conquest of Guiana in South America, and in 1595 sailed for that country, in the vain hope of discovering the golden region of El Dorado, supposed to be situated in the depths of Guiana. He returned to England the same year, and soon afterwards published an account of his expedition. In the following year he was one of the admirals in the successful expedition against Cadiz, gained mainly by his skill and valour, under the command of Howard and the Earl of Essex; and in 1597 he sailed with the same commanders against the Azores. Soon after these expeditions we find him assiduously engaged in parliamentary business. His speeches evince a knowledge of political economy far superior to any man of his time. He had so far regained the royal favour as to obtain a grant of the manor of Sherborne in Dorsetshire, which he magnificently embellished. Fuller mentions a tradition that the first orange-trees that ever grew in England were planted by his hand. This tradition is rendered the more likely by his recorded fondness for horticulture. In truth his genius was as varied and discursive as it was powerful. He could turn himself with surprising facility from mathematics to poetry, from the profoundest cosmographical speculations or metaphysical disquisitions to the lighter subjects of music, from ornamental gardening or painting to historical or antiquarian researches; and all the while kept up his intercourse with the world and the court, and was ready to avail himself of any new avenue which might open up to his ambition or his love of glory. In 1600 he was sent on a joint embassy with Lord Cobham to Flanders, and on his return made governor of Jersey.

Queen Elizabeth died in the beginning of the year 1603; and with her Raleigh's glory and felicity sunk, never to rise again. Upon the accession of James, Sir Walter lost his interest at court, was stripped of his preferments, and foully accused of a plot against the king. He was arraigned at Winchester, and, on his trial, was insulted with the most shocking brutality by the famous Coke, attorney-general, who influenced the jury to convict him without any legal proof of his guilt. After a month's imprisonment, however, in daily expectation of his execution, he was reprieved and sent to the Tower, and his estates were given to Car, Earl of Somerset, the king's favourite. During this confinement he wrote many of his most valuable pieces, particularly his History of the World. In March 1615, after sixteen years' imprisonment, he obtained his liberty, and immediately began to prepare for another voyage to Guiana, which proved equally abortive and ruinous. His eldest son, who bore his father's name, and a lad of infinite spirit, was slain by the Spaniards, and Captain Keymis, the head of the expedition, committed suicide. In the year 1618 he returned to England, where he was soon afterwards seized, imprisoned, and beheaded. He was sacrificed by the pusillanimous monarch to appease the Spaniards, who, whilst Raleigh lived, thought every part of their dominions in danger. He was executed in Old Palace Yard, and buried in St Margaret's adjoining, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. His behaviour on the scaffold was manly, unaffected, cheerful, and easy. Being asked by the executioner which way he would lay his head, he answered, "So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head lies." He was a man of admirable parts, extensive knowledge, undaunted resolution, and perhaps the best prose writer of his age. He was upwards of six feet in height; and in his demeanour, says Aubrey, "he presented an awfulness above other mortals." His great work, the History of the World, is a truly remarkable performance, both for matter and style. It has often been reprinted. His Life has frequently been written, and once exceedingly well by Patrick Fraser Tytler for the Edinburgh Cabinet Library," 1833. An edition of his whole works was published at Oxford in 1829, in 8 vols. 8vo.