Background
He was born in England, United Kingdom, presumably the son of Henry and Grace Pott of "Harrop, " Cheshire. The date of his birth is unknown.
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John Pott
Edit ProfileEducation
He received master of arts, acquainted with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.
Career
He came to Virginia as physician-general with Governor Wyatt in 1621, upon the recommendation of Theodore Gulston who pronounced him "well practised in Chirurgerie and Phisique". The Company provided free transportation for Pott, his wife, and a man and a maid, making an appropriation also for a "chest of phisique" and "Books of phisique. " Pott appears to have lived up to his excellent professional testimonials, although from his arrival in the colony he was likewise busied with politics and affairs: besides finding time for considerable litigation and some conviviality he enjoyed the confidence of the settlers for his skill in treating epidemic diseases.
In 1624, rumor having reached England that he was chiefly responsible for poisoning a number of Indians following a peace treaty with them, he was dropped from the Council at the instigation of Warwick. Charles I reinstated him as councilor in March 1626, however, and when Francis West returned to England, Pott was elected deputy-governor.
Shortly after Sir John Harvey succeeded him as governor, Pott was arrested and tried on charges of pardoninge willful murther, markinge other men's cattell for his own, and killinge up their hoggs. Convicted on two counts, he was removed from the Council and confined to his plantation, besides having his estate ordered confiscated. Undoubtedly politics, Harvey's courting of Baltimore's favor, and the machinations of an anti-Pott faction underlay the trial and conviction: Harvey inconsistently suspended execution of sentence in deference "to his quality and practice" and petitioned the King for clemency, while all the Council (three of whom had been among his jurors) became Pott's security. Mrs. Elizabeth Pott, although in poor health, proceeded to England to appeal in her husband's behalf. The commission there which sat on the case reported that the condemning of Pott for felony was very rigorous if not erroneous; and on July 25, 1631, the King pardoned him.
He resumed his medical practice, settling near the present site of Williamsburg, and kept an eye upon the arbitrary and arrogant Harvey. Two years later, after Harvey was reetablished as governor, Pott and other principals in this early American assertion of popular rights were summoned before the Star Chambers on charges of treason, but their case was never brought to trial.
Pott seemingly returned to Virginia and died without issue before 1642, a court record of that year referring to Francis Pott as his "brother and heir. "
Achievements
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John Pott was a physician-general in Virginia, then a deputy-governor, during which period he twice convened the Assembly, furthered regulations for the colony's defense, and sought to forestall the possibility of a Catholic settlement in Virginia. Pott was also famous among the leaders agitating revolt, and both participated in the actual deposing of the Crown's deputy in 1635.
Connections
There is no information about his marital status.
