Francis West Esq. (1586 - bef. 1634)

Born 28 Oct 1586 in England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Unknown) West — married before 6 Feb 1626 in Colony of Virginia

Husband of Temperance (Flowerdew) West — married 31 Mar 1628 (to Dec 1628) in James City, Virginia

Husband of Jane (Davye) West — married after Dec 1628 in Colony of Virginia

Died before 28 Apr 1634 before age 47 in Colony of Virginia [uncertain]

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Biography

Francis West, Esq., son of Thomas West, Knt., 2nd Lord La Warr (or De La Warr) and Anne Knolles (or Knollys, Knowles), was born 28 October 1586.^[1][2]

Timeline

• 1608 - Arrived in Jamestowne aboard the Mary and Margaret with part of the second supply of new settlers.^[3][4]
• 1609 - Elected to Virginia Council,^[1] and served as acting governor for two weeks after Capt. John Smith was removed from office.^[3] It is said that Smith had conspired with the Powhattan to kill West.^[5]
• 1610 - Returned to England for a brief time,^[6] leaving Virginia and returning in 1610.^[7]
• 1611 - He was shot in the leg by the Nansemond Indians while on expedition with Thomas Dale.^[3]
• 1612 - Designated commander of Jamestowne,^[3] succeeding George Percy,^[5] serving until 1617.^[6]
• 1617 - Appointed a "maker of Ordinance" for life.^[3]
• 1622 - Named admiral of New England^[3][6] by the New England Council.^[5]
• 1624-1625 - Resided at West and Shirley Hundred Island in the household of Capt. Isaac Madison on 16 February 1624. By early 1625, he had moved to Elizabeth City, where he was head of household and lived with his widowed sister-in-law, Frances, and her son Nathaniel.^[3][8]
• 1627 - Appointed acting Governor of Virginia 14 November 1627^[1] and served for two years,^[3] until 5 March 1628/9, when John Pott was chosen as his successor.^[5][6]
• 1630 - Went to England as the colony's representative; while he was there, he filed a lawsuit against the executors of the George Yeardley estate.^[3] He had returned to Virginia by December 1631.^[5]
• 1633 - Francis was a legatee in the 1633 will of his mother, Anne West, Lady la Warr.^[1]

Marriages and Children

Francis married first, before 6 February 1625/6, Margaret _______, widow of Captain William Powell^[3] and Edward Blayney.^[1]They had one son and one daughter:

• Francis^[1][3]
• Elizabeth^[1]

Francis married second, 31 March 1628 at James City, Virginia, Temperance Flowerdew, widow of Sir George Yeardley (or Yardley),^[3] Governor of Virginia.^[1] Temperance died in December of 1628 and administration on her estate was granted in England on 14 February 1628/9.^[1]

Francis married third, Jane Davye, daughter of Henry Davye, Knt.^[1][3] She is named as his wife in his will, dated 17 December 1629,^[9] so they married before then.

Death

Gov. Francis West, Esq. died in Virginia, leaving a will dated 17 December 1629 and proved 28 April 1634^[1] in England. He possibly died in a drowning accident^[3] according to family tradition.^[5][6] American Colonists in English Records (Ancestry.com database) gives the following data: "1625, Dec. 17. WEST, Francis, of Winchester, co. Southampton [Hampshire], Esq., in his will names Jane, my now wife, dau. of Sir Henry DAVYE, Knt. My plantations, &c., in Virginia; son Francis under 21. Proved at London 28 April, 1634, by Jane, the relict."^[9]

For a full transcript of the will of Francis West see: Will of Francis West Esq. 1634.

Research Notes

First Wife's LNAB

There was no source for LNAB Stitts on 1st wife's earlier profile. Her LNAB was therefore changed to Unknown by merging Stitts-4 into Unknown-517493. Richardson and McCartney call her Margaret Unknown. Wikipedia calls her Margaret Whitney.

Jamestowne Society

Francis West was dropped from the Jamestowne Society's list of Qualifying Ancestors because "primary records do not exist as far as we know for his children".^[10]

Previously-shown Son Francis

Francis West of Duxbury (1606 - 1692) was detached as a son. See Research Notes added to his profile.

Possible Children by Third Marriage

The 1648 will of Jane Davy's father Henry Davy left bequests to Henry West and his sister Frances West.^[11] They may well be children of Francis by his third marriage.

Francis's own 1629 will refers to only one son, called Francis, but it was signed several years before his death and anticipates the possiblilty of future children from his third marriage - it refers to "such children, as I shall have by my said wife [Jane]".^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013), vol. V, page 356 WEST 15.iv., Francis West, Esq.
2. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011), vol. IV, page 328, WEST 15.iv., Francis West, Esq.
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13} Martha W. McCartney. Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary. (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007). Online at Google Books (snippet view only), page 731.
4. ↑ Mary and Margaret Passenger list
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5} Albert Frederick Pollard. "West, Francis" in Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 60. Online at WikiSource.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4} Lyon Gardiner Tyler. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Vol. 1, (1915). Online at VAGenWeb, West, Francis.
7. ↑ Alexander Brown. "West, Captain Francis" in Genesis of the United States, Vol. 2. Online at Archive.org, pages 1046-1047.
8. ↑ West search results (1624/25 Jamestown Muster)
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} The National Archives, ref. PROB 11/165/390, Will of Francis West of Winchester, Hampshire, Discovery Centre catalogue entry
10. ↑ Jamestowne Society
11. ↑ The National Archives, ref. PROB 11/207/176, Will of Henrie Davy of London, proved 24 January 1649. Discovery Centre catalogue entry

See also:

• Cokayne, George Edward and Vicary Gibbs ed. Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Vol. IV: Dacre - Dysart, 2nd edition. (London, 1916). Online at Archive.org, pages 160-161: de la Warr (brother Thomas).
• Encyclopedia of Virginia: Governors of Virginia.
• Wikipedia: Francis West.

Acknowledgements

See the Changes tab for details of edits to this profile. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed and approved for the Magna Carta Project 11 Jun 2020 by Thiessen-117.

Francis West Esq., along with his siblings John West, Nathaniel West, Thomas West, and Elizabeth (West) Saltonstall, are listed in Richardson's Magna Carta Ancestry as Gateway Ancestors (I:xxiii-xxix "List of Colonial Immigrants") and are in trails badged by the Magna Carta Project in May 2015 (and re-reviewed in June 2020) to surety barons William de Mowbray, Gilbert de Clare, Richard de Clare, John de Lacy, Saher de Quincy, Hugh le Bigod and Roger Bigod. The trails are outlined in the Magna Carta Trails section of John West's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".