Francis Wyatt

Sir Francis Wyatt, (1588 – 1644), the first English colonial governor of Virginia. He became governor in 1621, shortly after his arrival in October, taking with him the first written constitution for an English colony. In 1622 he rallied the defense of Jamestown which was attacked by Native Americans, during which the lives of some 400 settlers had been lost.

Virginia became a royal colony in 1624, but Sir Francis, at the request of the crown, remained on as governor until 1626, when Sir George Yeardley, whom he had succeeded, resumed the office. He was appointed governor again from 1639 until 1642, and was then succeeded by Sir William Berkeley.

Sir Francis's wife was named Margaret; she was the niece of George Sandys, the Treasurer of Jamestown until Sir Francis. His Great-grandfather Thomas Wyatt (poet) was the brother-in-law of Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley.

Although Sir Francis left no direct descendants in what would later become the United States of America, his brother, the Reverend Haute Wyatt, is considered the common ancestor to those who claim kinship to the pre-1700 Wyatt family in the Americas.

Sir Francis Wyatt organized the General Assembly which had been called in 1619. This was the first legislative body in America. Sir Francis caused its privileges to be embodied in a written constitution, the first of its kind in the new world.