Sir Richard Grenville, who was a cousin of Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake, was a key driving force for change and growth within Bideford. In particular he obtained a charter for the town in 1574 that played a major role in the transformation of Bideford, from a small fishing port into a significant trading centre; that had connections with the entire western world.

He was also renowned as a great adventurer and almost certainly established the first English colony in North America on Roanoke Island, off the coast of modern North Carolina in 1587.

However, in 1590 when an English ship returned to Roanoke they found the colony deserted and no clue as to what had happened to the settlers. This was the beginning of the still unanswered question regarding what happened to the "First Colony", research is currently underway to try and establish DNA links that would prove that the first English colonists sailed, not from Plymouth, but from Bideford.