Captain John West

The colonial Governor of Virginia from 1635 to 1637, the third West brother to serve in that position.

He was the fourth son and twelfth child of Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr, of Wherwell Abbey in Hampshire, and his wife, Lady Anne Knollys.

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/WEST/1998-01/0884062391

The Honorable John West (1590-1659), twelfth child of Sir Thomas West, Second Lord De La Warr, matriculated at Magdalen College 17 February 1608/9 and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts on 1 December 1613. He came to Virginia in 1618 and immediately associated himself with the military life of the colony. After the massacre of 1622 he commanded a company of men against the Indians. He was a member of the House of Burgesses in 1629-1630 and in 1634 a Justice of the Peace in York County. He was a member of the Governor'’s Council in Virginia from 1631 until the time of his death. Great unrest arose in Virginia in the spring of 1635, and the Council advised that Governor Sir John Harvey return to England, whereupon Colonel John West was elected Governor and Captain General of Virginia. He served until 18 January 1636/7, shortly after which he was appointed to the office of Muster Master General of Virginia by King Charles I of England.

In 1631 when the Council resolved to plant a settlement on the York River, Colonel John West was one of the first settlers to patent lands on King’s Creek, and shortly established himself at his plantation there (later known as “Bell-field”) where in 1632 was born his only child, John West Junior, being the first child of English parents born on the York River. Governor West sold this plantation in 1650 to Edward Digges, Esquire (Governor of Virginia 1655-1656), and moved to his plantation known to this day as West Point in the fork of the York River where he died in 1659.

Colonel John West died at his West Point plantation, 1659, and in March 1660, the House of Burgesses passed a Resolution of Good Will in recognition of "the many important favors and services rendered to the country of Virginia by the noble family of West, predecessors of Mr. John West, their now only survivor ..... It is ordered that the levies of the said Master West and his family be remitted, and that he be exempt from payment thereof during life".

(There must be some missing text; this seems to refer to Anne Percy, wife of John West?....)......"Governor John ..... many of her descendants that she was the only child of George Percy (1580-1632) (youngest son of Sir Henry de Percy, Eighth Earl of Northumberland) and his wife Ann Floyd, daughter of Nathaniel Floyd of Jamestown. George Percy came to Virginia in 1607 and returned to England in 1612, leaving his wife in Virginia.

Governor John West and Ann, his wife, had an only child, John West, Junior, mentioned in act of March 160?, as the only survivor (in Virginia) of the noble family of West; of him more subsequently."

Served as Crown Governor of Virginia from 1635-1637.

John West was the fifth son and twelfth child of Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr, and was born at Testwood in Hampshire. He came to Virginia in 1618. He was a member of the House of Burgesses (1628–30). In 1630, the decision was made to plant a settlement on the York River, "...for the securing & taking in of a tract of Land called ye fforest bordering uppon the cheife residence of ye Pamunkey King the most dangerous head of the Indian enemy..." John West received one of the first grants issued for this purpose, 600 acres "on the east side of Felgates".[1] "Felgates" refers to Robert Felgate's 1632 grant of "350 acres lying at Kiskeyacke upon Pamunkey".[2] West sold the 600 acres, along with adjoining land, to Edward Digges in 1650;.[3] It became known as the "E.D." plantation, renamed by later owners as "Belfield".

West subsequently patented 3300 acres at the fork of York River, at the site which eventually developed into the present-day town of West Point.[4] After his death the land passed to his son John West and then to his grandson John West III and to his great-grandson Charles West. Charles West had no issue. His will (dated 28 September 1734) left the West Point estate to his mother, and after her death to his first cousin Thomas West (son of his father's brother Thomas) "and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, for ever..." The entail was broken in November 1761, when a trust was established to enable 1000 acres of the land to be sold in order to purchase slaves.[5]

West patented a further 1550 acres in 1651,[6] and 1000 acres in Gloucester County in 1654.[7] In 1635, after the "thrusting out" of Governor Sir John Harvey, John West was chosen as temporary replacement.,[8] and served until 1637 when Harvey was restored to his position. In 1640 West was ordered to England, along with three other "thrusters", to answer charges in the Star Chamber. All four were eventually cleared, and returned to Virginia.

• Event: 12th child of Thomas West & Anne Knollys.
• Date: 1613: Bachelor of Arts from Magdalen College, Oxford, 1 December 1613 [17]
• Date: 1618 Event: Arrived in Virginia via. the "Bonny Bess".
• Date: 1629 Event: Member, Va. House of Burgesses.
• Date: 1630 Event: until his death in 1659, Member of Colonial Council.
• Date: 1635 Event: to 1637, Gov. of Va. when Gov. Harvey expelled.
• Date: 1637 Event: Commissioned by Charles II as Colony's Muster General.
• Date: 1641 Event: Appt'd Marshall-General of Va.
• Date: 1650 Event: Sold "Bellfield" and Moved to West Point.
• Event: Buried in chapel cemetery where 1st Baptist Church (West Point)

References

• http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/JohnWest(Gov).htm has errors
• http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/WEST.htm
• Washington and Northern Virginia Company - Jamestowne Society - http://www.jamestowne-wash-nova.org/JohnWest.htm -
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_Virginia
• Mentioned in Chapter 4 of the National Park Service study on Wicocomico State Park/Capt John Smith of Purton State Park, archeaology report by Moretti & Langholts Archeology, Inc. their study, online book via National Park Service free online book at [http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/james1/moretti-langholt...]
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_West_(governor)_ - mentions marriage only to Anne Percy.
• page 329 of Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition ...
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jun 29 2017, 17:47:56 UTC
• “Hon. George Percy of VA (1580-app.c.1632)” < soc.genealogy.medieval > Post by Tony Hoskins, Oct. 4, 2005. document attached … "Governor John West married Ann whose surname is unknown, though it is believed by many of her descendants that she was the only child of George Percy (1580-1632) [eighth and youngest son of Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland] and his wife Ann Floyd, daughter of Nathaniel Floyd of Jamestown. George Percy came to Virginia in 1607 and returned to England in 1612, leaving his wife in Virginia." [Fox and Ayres, _The Noble Lineage of the Delaware-West Family of Virginia_ (1958), p. 185]. The 1958 work by Fox and Ayres is at the moment the earliest reference in print I have discovered on this matter. I can attest though that among some descendants of the Hon. John West of Virginia this legend was widely believed well before 1958.
• The Noble Lineage of the Delaware-West Family of Virginia: Through Col. John West, His Sons, and His Daughter Anne West who Married Henry Fox. Ann Woodard Fox. Seebode Printing Service, 1958 - Families. Page 8, page 184. < GoogleBooks >