Editing Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr

{{Short description|English nobleman (1576–1618)}}
{{redirect | Lord Delaware | the current Lord De La Warr, who acceded to the title in 1988 | William Sackville, 11th Earl De La Warr | other peers styled Lord De La Warr |Earl De La Warr|the traditional ballad|Lord Delaware (ballad)}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = {{pre-nominal styles|RHon}}
| name                = The Lord De La Warr
| honorific_suffix    = 
| title               = [[List of colonial governors of Virginia|Lord Governor and Captain General of the Virginia Colony]]
| image               = Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (1605).jpg
| caption             = Portrait, {{circa|1605}}
| CoA                 = 
| tenure              = 
| predecessor         = 
| successor           = 
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1576|07|09|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Kingdom of England|England]]
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1618|06|07|1576|07|09|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Atlantic Ocean]], en route to [[Jamestown, Virginia]], from<br>[[London]], England
| spouse              = {{marriage|Cecilia Shirley, Lady De La Warr|25 November 1596}}
| father              = [[Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr|Thomas West,<br>2nd Baron De La Warr]]
| mother              = [[Anne Knollys, Baroness De La Warr|Anne Knollys]]
| signature           = Signature of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr.png
| signature_size      = 
| signature_alt       = 
| footnotes           = 
| resting_place       = Jamestown, Virginia
| relations           = (see [[Earl De La Warr]])
}}
'''Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-Delaware.ogg|ˈ|d|ɛ|l|ə|w|ɛər}} {{respell|DEL|ə|wair}};<ref>{{cite web |first=Robert Stuart |last=Németh |work=Building Opinions |title=The De La Warr Pavilion |publisher=Latest Homes |date=13 September 2006 |url=http://www.buildingopinions.com/Archive/DE/delawarrpavilion.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130713015858/http://www.buildingopinions.com/Archive/DE/delawarrpavilion.html |archive-date=13 July 2013 }}</ref><ref name=ev>{{cite web|last1=Billings|first1=Warren M.|title=Thomas West, Twelfth Baron De La Warr (1576–1618) |url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/West_Thomas_twelfth_baron_De_La_Warr_1577–1618 |publisher=Encyclopedia Virginia|work=Dictionary of Virginia Biography|access-date=23 March 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1245/report.pdf |title=Delaware Place Names |type=Report |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] }}</ref> 9 July 1576 – 7 June 1618), was an English nobleman, for whom the [[Delaware Bay|bay]], the [[Delaware River|river]], and, consequently, a [[Lenape|Native American people]] and [[Delaware|U.S. state]], all later called "Delaware", were named. A member of the [[House of Lords]], from the death of his father in 1602 until his own death in 1618, he served as the [[List of colonial governors of Virginia|governor of Virginia]] from 1610 to 1611.

There have been two creations of [[Earl De La Warr|Baron De La Warr]], and West came from the second. He was the son of [[Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr]], of [[Wherwell]] Abbey in [[Hampshire]], and [[Anne Knollys, Baroness De La Warr|Anne Knollys]], daughter of [[Catherine Carey|Catherine Knollys]]; making him a great-grandson of [[Mary Boleyn]], the sister of [[Anne Boleyn]], the second wife of [[King Henry VIII]]. He was born at Wherwell, Hampshire, England, and died at sea while travelling from England to [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]]. Counting from the original creation of the title, West would be the 12th Baron.<ref>{{Britannica|153686|Thomas West, 12th Baron De La Warr}}</ref>

==Early life==
As the eldest son of the 2nd Baron De La Warr, Thomas West received his education at [[Queen's College, Oxford]]. He served in the English army under [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex]], and, in 1601, was charged with supporting Essex's ill-fated insurrection against [[Queen Elizabeth I]], but acquitted of those charges.<ref name=DNB>{{cite DNB|wstitle=West, Thomas (1577-1618)|display=West, Thomas (1577–1618)|volume=60|pages=344–45 |first=Albert Frederick |last=Pollard}}</ref> He was a [[Member of Parliament|Member]] (MP) of the [[Parliament of England]] for [[Lymington (UK Parliament constituency)|Lymington]] in 1597.<ref>{{cite web |title=West, Thomas III (1577-1618), of Wherwell, Hants. |via=The History of Parliament |url=http://historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/west-thomas-iii-1577-1618}} Reprinted from {{cite book |title=The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603 |editor=P.W. Hasler |year=1981 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer}}</ref>

He succeeded his father as [[Earl De La Warr|Baron De La Warr]] in 1602.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fiske |first=John |year=1897 |title=Old Virginia and Her Neighbours |volume=1 |pages=146–47 |location=Boston and New York |publisher=Houghton, Mifflin and Company }}</ref> It was said that he became a member of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]], but this has been disproved.<ref name= Rose2020>{{cite news|author=Rose, E.M.|date=2020|title=Lord Delaware, First Governor of Virginia, 'the Poorest Baron of this Kingdom'|location=Virginia|publisher=Virginia Magazine of History 128.3|pages=226–258|jstor=26926494|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26926494}}</ref> In 1645 Dame Cicly petitioned the House of Lords to continue the pension that King James had granted her husband.<ref>House of Lords. Main Papers. (3 December 1645) "Petition of Dame Cicily Dowager De la Ware." Lords Journals, VIII. 21. In extenso. [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/64afd564-81b6-4deb-9a02-0ac3c9e74682 The National Archives Kew] Retrieved 16 February 2023.</ref> There is only one supposedly contemporaneous portrait of Thomas, from 1605, but its authenticity has been questioned on the basis of the sitter's attire and physical attributes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rose |first=E.M. |date=Fall 2024 |title=From Baron to Bourgeois: Thomas West, Lord De La Warr, Governor of Virginia (1610–1618) |url=https://naajournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Rose-From-Baron-to-Bourgeois.pdf |journal=The New American Antiquarian |volume=3 |pages=49–80}}</ref>

==Governor of Virginia==
[[File:Heinly John - Lord Delaware and soldiers entering James Fort through the south gate 1610.jpg|thumb|left|Dramatized illustration of Lord De La Warr and soldiers entering James Fort through the south gate, 1610]]
Lord De La Warr was the largest investor in the [[London Company]], which received two charters to settle colonists in the New World, and furnished and sent several vessels to accomplish that aim. He was appointed governor-for-life and captain-general of the Virginia, to replace the governing council of the colony under the presidency of Captain [[John Smith (explorer)|John Smith]].<ref>[http://www.historyisfun.org/sites/jamestown-chronicles/timeline.html "The Jamestown Chronicles Timeline"], 12 May 2016</ref> Subsequently, in November 1609, the [[Powhatan]]s killed [[John Ratcliffe (governor)|John Ratcliffe]], the [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown Colony]]'s Council President, and attacked the colony in what became the [[First Anglo-Powhatan War]].<ref name=lamont>{{cite book |title=The Forty Years that Created America: The Story of the Explorers, Promoters, Investors, and Settlers Who Founded the First English Colonies |first=Edward M. |last=Lamont |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-1442236608 |page=121 }}</ref> As part of England's response, De La Warr recruited and equipped a contingent of 150 men and outfitted three ships at his own expense, and sailed from England in March 1610.<ref name= Brown1898>{{cite book|author=Brown, Alexander|date=1898|title=The First Republic in America|location=New York|publisher=Houghton, Mifflin|page=[https://archive.org/details/firstrepublicina01brow/page/126 126]|url=https://archive.org/details/firstrepublicina01brow}}</ref>

In 1610 captain [[Samuel Argall]] named [[Delaware Bay]] in honor of Lord De La Warr. Shortly afterwards Dutch settlers along the bay gave it a different name, but the name Delaware Bay was restored when the English took control of the area in 1665.<ref name ="USGSDel">[ht11tp://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1245/report.pdf  Delaware Place Names] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811214125/https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1245/report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427142944/http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1245/report.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-27 |url-status=live |date=2017-08-}} [[United States Geological Survey]] p. 35.</ref> Lord De La Warr contracted [[malaria]] or [[scurvy]] in 1611. He left the colony on a ship captained by Argall headed to the West Indies to recover but was blown off course by a storm, ending up in [[Faial Island]], [[Azores]].<ref name="auto">Woolley, Benjamin. Savage Kingdom: Virginia and The Founding of English America (Text Only). United Kingdom, HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.</ref> West returned to London, England in June, 1611.<ref name="Encylo VA">{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/west-thomas-twelfth-baron-de-la-warr-1576-1618/ |title=West, Thomas, twelfth baron de la Warr (1576–1618) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Virginia}}</ref> He requested a private audience from King James I to explain why he wasn't governing in Virginia.<ref name="auto"/> He was summoned by the Virginia Company where he explained his health conditions ("[[Diarrhea|flux]]", cramps, [[gout]], and scurvy) in detail and his diet of oranges and lemons in the Azores helped him recover.<ref name="auto"/>

Later that year, De La Warr published a book titled ''The Relation of the Right Honourable the Lord De-La-Warre, Lord Governour and Captaine Generall of the Colonie, planted in Virginea''.<ref name=relation>De La Warr, Thomas West, Baron (1611). [https://archive.org/details/relationofrighth00dela ''The Relation of the Right Honourable the Lord De-La-Warre, Lord Governour and Captaine Generall of the Colonie, planted in Virginea''] at [[Archive.org]].</ref> The work was mockingly subtitled: ''A Short Relation made by the Lord De-La-Warre, to the Lords and others of the Councill of Virginea, touching his unexpected returne home, and afterwards delivered to the General Assembly of said Company...'', written by Company employee Samuel Calvert.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/relationofrighth00dela_0/page/n7/mode/2up | title=The relation of the right honourable the Lord De-La-Warre, lord gouernour and captaine generall of the colonie, planted in Virginea | date=1611 }}</ref>

In the autumn of 1616, Baron De La Warr and his wife Lady Cecilia introduced [[John Rolfe]] and his wife, [[Pocahontas]], into English society. The visitors from Virginia were in London to raise funds for the Virginia Company of London and to encourage colonization of Virginia. De La Warr remained the nominal governor, and after receiving complaints from the colonists about Argall's tyranny in governing them on his behalf, he set sail for Virginia again in 1618 aboard the ''Neptune'' to investigate those charges. He died at sea on 7 June.<ref name=DNB/><ref name="Encylo VA"/>

==Burial==
It was thought for many years that Lord De La Warr had been buried in the [[Azores]] or at sea.<ref name=DNB/> By 2006, researchers had concluded that his body was brought to Jamestown for burial. In October 2017, archaeologists excavated remains from underneath one of the churches at [[Historic Jamestowne]]. While two sets of remains were De La Warr's relatives, Sir Ferdinando Wainman and Captain William West, none were identified as Lord De La Warr.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/experts-have-uncovered-remains-at-americas-first-permanent-colony-but-whose-bones-are-they/2017/10/26/6ceaa0c4-b446-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html |title=Experts have uncovered remains at the first permanent English colony. But whose bones are they? |last=Ruane |first=Michael E. |date=27 October 2017 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]  |access-date=22 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="20160101AM">{{cite web |last1=Patel |first1=Samir |title=Jamestowne's VIPs |url=https://archaeology.org/issues/january-february-2016/collection/jamestown-colonial-america-burials/top-10-discoveries-of-2015/ |website=Archaeology |publisher=Kevin Quinlan |access-date=15 August 2024}}</ref>

==Personal life==
On 25 November 1596, De La Warr married Cecily Shirley (born c. 1579 died {{circa|1662}}), the daughter of Sir [[Thomas Shirley (died 1612)|Thomas Shirley]] of [[Wiston, West Sussex|Wiston]], [[Sussex]], and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Kempe.<ref>{{harvnb|Cokayne|2000|p=161}}</ref> They had the following known children:<!--do not put a number here unless a reliable source does-->
*Cecilia (died February 1638), who married firstly Sir [[Francis Bindlosse]] and secondly after 1629 [[John Byron, 1st Baron Byron]]. She was buried at [[Hucknall|Hucknall-Torkard]] in [[Nottinghamshire]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cokayne|1983|p=140}},  {{harvnb|Hammond|1998|p=128}}, {{harvnb|Mosley|2003|p=630}}.</ref>
*Lucy, who married Sir Robert Byron (d. after 1643), [[Governor]] of [[Liverpool]] and a [[Colonel]] in the service of the Royalist Infantry Forces who fought in the [[English Civil War]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mosley|2003|pp=630, 1075}}.</ref>
*Robert, who married Elizabeth Coch.<ref>{{harvnb|Mosley|2003|p=1075}}</ref>
* Henry (1603–1628), who succeeded his father as the 4th Baron De La Warr, married Isabella, daughter of Sir [[Thomas Edmondes]], in March 1625. He died at the age of 24 and was succeeded by his son [[Charles West, 5th Baron De La Warr]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cokayne|2000|p=161}}, {{harvnb|Mosley|2003|p=1075}}.</ref>

Lord De La Warr's brother, [[John West (governor)|John West]], later became governor and married Anne Percy, daughter of [[George Percy (governor)|George Percy]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4KjAeenpgYwC&pg=PA50 |title=Early Modern Virginia: Reconsidering the Old Dominion |last1=Bradburn |first1=Douglas |last2=Coombs |first2=John C. |date=2011|publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0813931708 |pages=50 }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Cokayne |editor-first=George Edward  |year=1983 |orig-year=c. 1900  |title=The Complete Baronetage |edition=5-volume reprint |location=Gloucester, UK|publisher=Alan Sutton Publishing |volume=2 |page=140}}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Cokayne |editor-first=George Edward |display-editors=etal |year=2000 |title=The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant |edition=reprint in 6 volumes; new |orig-year=1910–1959 |location=Gloucester, UK|publisher=Alan Sutton Publishing  |volume=4 |page=160 }}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Mosley |editor-first=Charles |year=2003 |title=Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage |edition= 107th |volume=1 |pages=630, 1075 |location=Wilmington, DE|publisher=Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books)}}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Hammond |editor-first=Peter W. |year=1998 |title=The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda |location=Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK|publisher=Sutton Publishing |page=128}}
{{Div col end}}

==External links==
*{{commons-inline}}
*[http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/West_Thomas_twelfth_baron_De_La_Warr_1577-1618 Biography] at ''[[Encyclopedia Virginia]]''
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=De la Warr, Thomas West, Lord|short=x}}

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{{succession box 
| title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Lymington (UK Parliament constituency)|Lymington]] 
| before= [[Richard Blount (MP for Lymington)|Richard Blount]]     
| before2= John Knight
| with= [[Henry Wallop (died 1642)|Henry Wallop]]
| years=1597–1598
| after=[[Francis Darcy|Sir Francis Darcy]]
| after2=Thomas Ridley
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{{succession box
 | title  = [[Earl De La Warr|Baron De La Warr]]
 | years  = 1602–1618
 | before = [[Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr|Thomas West]]
 | after  = Henry West}}

{{s-gov}}
{{succession box |
  before= [[Thomas Gates (governor)|Thomas Gates]]|
  title= [[List of colonial governors of Virginia|Governor of Virginia]] |
  years= 1610–1611 |
  after= [[George Percy (governor)|George Percy]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Governors of Virginia}}
{{Jamestown Colony}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Delaware|England|Virginia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:De La Warr, Thomas West, 3rd Baron}}
[[Category:1576 births]]
[[Category:1618 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:17th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Barons De La Warr]]
[[Category:Colonial governors of Virginia]]
[[Category:English emigrants]]
[[Category:English MPs 1597–1598]]
[[Category:History of Delaware]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707)]]
[[Category:People from colonial Virginia]]
[[Category:People of the Elizabethan era]]
[[Category:People who died at sea]]
[[Category:Virginia Governor's Council members]]
[[Category:West family|Thomas West, 03 Baron De La Warr]]