Francis Wyatt, I

Background

Francis Wyatt, I was born in 1588, at Boxley Manor (now Boxley Abbey), Kent, England, the eldest son of George Wyat and Jane Finch.

Education

Wyatt, I attended St. Mary Hall, Oxford, (from July 1, 1603) and Grey's Inn (1604).

Career

Through his wife's kinsmen of the Sandys family, Sir Francis (he was knighted in 1603) became interested in the affairs of the Virginia Company. In 1619 some of the leading colonists in Virginia sent home a petition that a nobleman "like the late Lord de la Warr might be sent as governor. " On January 25, 1620, failing the reappointment of Sir George Yeardley, whose commission was well-nigh expired, the Earl of Southampton proposed as governor Sir Francis Wyat. A week later the company proceeded to a ballot, and Wyatt was elected with but two blackballs. After his election several steps were taken to improve the condition of the Virginia colony, the English board of the company being greatly strengthened. The new governor went out with nine sail, arrived at Jamestown at the close of October 1621, and entered upon his government on November 18.

Wyat brought with him the new constitution for the colony. All former immunities and franchises were confirmed, trial by jury was secured, and the assembly was privileged to meet annually upon the call of the governor, who was vested with the right of veto. No act of the assembly was to be valid unless it should be ratified by the Virginia Company; but, on the other hand, no order of the company was to be obligatory without the concurrence of the assembly. This famous ordinance furnished the model of every subsequent form of government in the Anglo-American colonies.

During the first year of Wyat's governorship twenty-one vessels arrived in Virginia, bringing more than thirteen hundred settlers, and for a brief space new life was imparted to the community. Jabez Whitaker set up a large guest-house for the accommodation of immigrants; Captain William Norton, with some Italians, erected glass-works near Jamestown, and great attention was paid to the manufacture of iron and the importation of metal and skilled iron-workers. Unfortunately the prosperity of Wyat's governorship received a severe check from a great uprising of the Indians towards the end of March 1622, when over three hundred of the settlers were massacred. In April 1624 it was intimated to the company in London that Sir Francis desired to retire from the governorship at the close of his term of five years, but upon several of the planters commending his "justice and noble carriage" it was decided by ballot "to urge his continuance. " A few months later the charter of the old Virginia Company was annulled, but Sir Francis was continued as governor by royal commission, and upon James's death in March 1625 he was likewise continued in office by Charles I.

Wyat's father died in Ireland in September 1625, and upon the receipt of this intelligence Sir Francis straightway prepared to leave Virginia. It was not, however, until the close of May 1626 that he reached England and succeeded to his property at Boxley. The governorship was taken over by Sir George Yeardley. In November 1639, Wyat returned again to Virginia, and succeeded Sir John Harvey as governor. Virginia was now torn by factions, and, as he was unwilling to promote certain interests, Wyat became unpopular during his last term of office. After eighteen months Sir William Berkeley was appointed his successor, and in February 1642 landed at Jamestown. Next year Sir Francis Wyat went back to England in time to be present at the death of George Sandys, his wife's uncle, at Boxley Abbey. In less than a year after this, on August 24, 1644, Wyat was himself buried in the family vault in the same churchyard at Boxley.

Achievements

• Sir Francis Wyatt, I was the first English colonial governor of Virginia, who brought with him a new constitution, which became the model for all later forms of government in the American colonies, and organized the General Assembly, the first legislative body in America. Francis Wyatt, I was knighted on July 7, 1618, at Windsor.

Connections

In 1618, Francis Wyatt, I married Margaret Sandys, daughter of Sir Samuel Sandys, eldest son and heir to Archbishop Edwin Sandys. The couple had several children.

Father:

Sir George Wyatt

Sir George Wyatt was an English writer and politician.

Mother:

Jane Wyatt (Finch)

Sister:

Margaret Wyatt

Sister:

Anne Twisden (Wyatt)

Sister:

Jane Wyatt

Sister:

Isabel Page (Wyatt)

Sister:

Joan Wyatt

Sister:

Katherine Wyatt

Sister:

Eleanor Finch (Wyatt)

Wife:

Margaret Wyatt (Sandys)

Daughter:

Elizabeth Garlington I (Wyatt)

Daughter:

Frances Wyatt

Son:

Samuel Wyatt

Son:

Francis Wyatt, II

Son:

William Wyatt

Son:

George Wyatt

Son:

Henry Wyatt

Son:

Richard Wyatt

Son:

Edwin Wyatt

Son:

Sir Dudley Wyatt

Brother:

George Wyatt

Brother:

Henry Wyatt

Brother:

Hawte Wyatt

Hawte Wyatt was an English rector of Maidstone, Kent.

Brother:

Thomas Wyatt