Francis Wyatt (abt. 1588 - bef. 1644)

Born about 1588 in Kent, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Sandys) Wyatt — married 13 Jun 1618 in London, England

Descendants

Died before 24 Aug 1644 before about age 56 in Boxley, Kent, England

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Magna Carta Gateway Ancestor Descendant of Magna Carta Surety Baron William Malet (see text). Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

Biography

Francis Wyatt is a Qualifying Ancestor of the Jamestowne Society

Francis Wyatt was a Jamestown colonist.

Sir Francis Wyatt^[1] is recorded by the Jamestowne Society as follows: "Wyatt, Sir Francis: born 1588, died 1644 England; 1621-26, 1639 (Governor); Jamestowne Island: (Landowner). 1642 (Councillor).^[2] His issue remained in England."^[3]

Francis Wyatt, Knt., of Allington and Boxley, Kent, the son and heir of George Wyatt and Jane Finch,^[4] was born in 1588.^[1] He was the brother of Rev. Hawte, Henry, George, Thomas and Eleanor, wife of John Finch.^[1]

Sir Francis Wyatt (Wiat) of Kent, arm. fil. nat. max. (firstborn son with right to use coat of arms), matriculated at St. Mary Hall, Oxford, 1 July 1603, aged 15.^[5] He entered Gray's Inn as son of George of Boxley, Kent, Esq., in 1604^[5] on August 1st.^[6]

Francis was knighted by King James I in 1618^[7] on 7 July^[5][8] (some sources say 1603).^[9][10] He was referred to as "militus" (knight) in the 1619 and 1620 baptismal records of his sons, Henry and George.^[7]

Marriage and Children

Sir Francis married by settlement dated 1618 to Margaret Sandys, daughter of Sir Samuel Sandys and Mary Culpeper.^[1] Francis and Margaret had children, but left no descendants in America. Richardson remarks "descendants in England", but names no children.^[1]

The Church of England Parish Register for London, discovered through the London Metropolitan Archives show "Francis Wiatt of Boxley Abbey in the County of Kent" married "Margaret Sandis" on 13 June 1618 at St. Bartholomew the Great, City of London, London, England.

Francis's ancestral line is thought to have ended with his youngest son, Edwin.^[11] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2008), names the children of Sir Francis and Margaret as follows:

• Elizabeth, born in England.^[4] Married Thomas Bosville.^[7][11] Perhaps baptized 22 Sep 1630 in London?^[12] Her grandaughter may have inherited the estate at Boxley.^[13]
• Henry,^[4] eldest son.^[8][14] Baptized 4 April 1619 at Boxley.^[7][15] Trinity College, Oxford, matriculated 8 Jun 1638, age 16,^[5] entered Grays Inn on 20 October 1640.^[6] 21 year lease of 50 acres in Pasbyehaies, James City County dated 16 Dec 1641.^[14]
• George, born in England.^[4]
• William, born in England.^[4]
• Edwin,^[7] fifth child, born in England in about 1624.^[4] "Son and heir male", sergeant-at-law, chief justice; married Frances Crisp, had children, survived by 3 sons, who died without issue.^[11]

And perhaps another son, not named in ODNB:

• Francis, entered King's College, Cambridge in 1639 and the Inner Temple in 1641.^[8]

They also had issue that died in childhood, including: William (died 1636 in Boxley), George (1620-1637), and probably others.

Immigration to Virginia

Sir Francis' interest in Virginia was probably generated through his wife's uncle, Sir Edwin Sandys, who controlled the London Company (aka the Virginia Company in London) in 1619. Sir Francis obtained four shares in the company in November 1620^[9] and was elected Governor of Virginia at a Court of the London Company on 29 Jan 1620/21.^[14] He immigrated to Virginia, traveling aboard the George (called the Georgia in some sources) with his brother Hawte Wyatt, arriving there in October or November of 1621,^[1] landing at the James River in a fleet of nine ships.^[16] He entered the office of Governor on 18 November 1621.^[10][17]

Wyatt brought the new constitution for the colony of Virginia with him from England: An Ordinance and Constitution of the Virginia Company in England 24 Jul 1621, which was used as a model for all future government in the American colonies.^[10] In it, the "liberty of generall Assemblie" had been granted by the royal government,^[9] and the first legislative body was then organized, known as the Virginia General Assembly.

Francis served his first term as Governor of Virginia from 1621-1626.^[1][7][8] During his administration, a terrible massacre was carried out by the Indians^[9] in which over 300 settlers were killed^[10] on 21 March 1621/22.^[18] When the Virginia Company disbanded in 1624, Sir Francis was asked to stay on as the first royal governor in Virginia.^[9] During that time, he authored A Briefe Declaration of the Plantation of Virginia During the First Twelve Yeares in 1624.^[19] In 1626, he left office at his own request^[14] to go to Ireland to administer the estate of his father, George Wyatt.^[8] It is thought that his brother, Hawte, traveled back to Europe with him.

Sir Francis returned to Virginia and was Governor again from 1639 until 1642.^[1][8] At that time, Virginia was torn by factions and, as Sir Francis was unwilling to promote certain interests, he became unpopular in the colony.^[10] His successor, William Berkeley, was commissioned by the King on 2 Apr 1641 and arrived in Virginia in February 1642.^[14] After his replacement arrived, Francis returned to England in 1642.^[1]

Burial

Sir Francis Wyatt was buried at Boxley, Kent, England on 24 August 1644.^{[1][5][7][7][20]}

Will

In his will dated 6 Aug 1644, he left Boxley Abbey and the bulk of his estate to his wife, for her lifetime, and then to his son Henry.^[4] When Henry died, the estate passed to Frances (Bosvile) Seyliard, possibly Henry's daughter - her last name at birth is uncertain (see her profile). Henry's brother Edwin, who was still living, sued his niece and obtained most of their father's estate, except for Boxley Abbey and adjacent lands, which were eventually sold by the Seyliard family.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Richardson, Douglas. 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 384 WYATT #16.i.
2. ↑ New River Notes, Colonial Virginia Register
3. ↑ Jamestowne Society: Sir Francis Wyatt #A9206, accessed 4 Nov 2019.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6} Bernhard, Virginia. "Wyatt, Sir Francis (1588–1644), colonial governor." in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. January 03, 2008. Oxford University Press. Date of access 8 Nov. 2019 at OxfordDNB.com, with subscription only.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4} Foster, Joseph, ed. Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714, (Oxford, 1891), Online at BritishHistory.ac, pages 1674-1697.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Foster, Joseph. The Register of Admissions to Gray's Inn, 1521-1889. (London: Hansard Pub. Union, 1889), online at HathiTrust, pages 107 (Folio 560) and 228 (Folio 975, son Henry).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8} Cave-Browne, John. The History of Boxley Parish. (Maidstone: E. J. Dickinson, 1892), online at Archive.org, page 10 (land), 119 (children), 133-4 (family tree), 164-5 (Henry & George bap.), 172 (bur.), 185.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5} "Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents." in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 3, no. 2, 1895, pages 177–178. Online at JSTOR.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4} American Council of Learned Societies. Dictionary of American Biography. Vol. 20. (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1943), online at Archive.org, pages 573-574.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4} Stephen, Sir Leslie, ed. Dictionary of National Biography, 1921–1922. 22 vols. (London, England: Oxford University Press, 1921–1922), online with subsc. at Ancestry.com, Vol. 21, pages 1092-1093.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} Notes and Queries (London, England: G. Bell, 1850-). Online at Archive.org, c.1, ser 3, vol. 3 (3 Jan 1863) page 9-10: transcribed inscription of the Wiat family monument at Boxley, Kent.
12. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, (FamilySearch: 11 February 2018, Francis Wyatt in entry for Elizabeth Wyatt, 22 Sep 1630); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 845,229, 476,868.
13. ↑ Wikipedia: Profile of Sir Francis Wyatt.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4} Nugent, Nell Marion. Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800. (Richmond: Dietz Print Co., 1934), online at Archive.org, page xix.
15. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, (FamilySearch: 11 February 2018, Francisci Wiatt in entry for Henricus Wiatt, 04 Apr 1619); index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 477,371.
16. ↑ "Notes on American History" in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-). Online database at AmericanAncestors.org, Vol. 30, page 417: Abstracted records of ships arriving in Jamestown 1607-1624.
17. ↑ Faris, David C. Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-century Colonists. (Genealogical Publishing Company, 1996), online at Ancestry.com, page 289.
18. ↑ Fausz, J. Frederick, and John Kukla. “A Letter of Advice to the Governor of Virginia, 1624.” in The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 1, 1977, pages 104–129. Online at JSTOR.
19. ↑ Weis, Frederick Lewis. The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215. (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1999), online at Ancestry.com, Line 72, page 89.
20. ↑ Tyler, Lyon G. “Inscriptions on Old Tombs in Gloucester Co., Virginia.” in The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 3, no. 1, 1894, pages 36. Online at JSTOR.

• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. 2nd ed., 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011). See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families. 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013). See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry: Vol. V, pages 412-413 WYATT.

See also:

• Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 04 Nov 2019), memorial page for Sir Francis Wiat (1588–1644), Find A Grave: Memorial #34135269, citing St Mary the Virgin and All Saints Churchyard, Boxley, Maidstone Borough, Kent, England; Maintained by Cousins by the Dozens (contributor 46904925): photo of family memorial plaque, unsourced bio.
• Tyler, Lyon Gardiner. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. (New York, New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1915), online at Archive.org, vol. 1, page 42-43.
• Ancestry.com. "Virginia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890." [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. 1624 Frances, Goven. Wyatt, VA, James City County.
• Church of England Parish Registers: London, England 1538-1812. London Metropolitan Archives. London, England.

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/updated to meet current standards and approved for the Magna Carta Project by Traci Thiessen 4 November 2019.

Francis Wyatt is listed in Magna Carta Ancestry as a Gateway Ancestor (vol. I, pages xxiii-xxix) in a Richardson-documented trail to Magna Carta Surety Baron William Malet that was reviewed/approved by the Magna Carta Project in 2015 and re-reviewed in April 2020. See the Magna Carta Trails on the profile of his brother, Hawte Wyatt, to view the profiles in this trail.

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