Jamestowne Society
Jamestowne Society
3901 Midlands Road, Williamsburg, VA 23188
804-353-1226
jamestowne.society@verizon.net
Donate
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Jamestowne Society Headquarters
    • Insignia and Seal
    • Mission
    • Companies and Leaders
    • Society Leadership >
      • In Memoriam
    • Publications
    • Research Fellowship
    • BY-LAWS
  • Membership
    • Lineage Paper Project
    • Qualifying Ancestors >
      • Ancestors: Abbot - Buckmaster
      • Ancestors: Buckner - Downing
      • Ancestors: Drummond - Harwood
      • Ancestors: Hatcher - Luddington
      • Ancestors: Ludwell - Price
      • Ancestors: Prince - Thomas
      • Ancestors: Thompson - Yowell
    • Application Process >
      • FAQs on application
  • Resources
    • Research Resources
    • Chronology 1606-1700
    • Royal Charters
    • Guilds
    • 1623 Lists of Living & Dead
  • Planned Giving
    • Roll of Honor
    • Legacy Roll
    • Annual Giving Campaign
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • Members Only Pages
    • Events >
      • Zoom Meetings
      • Upcoming Events / Meetings
      • Book Club Events
    • Members Only Shop

411 Years Ago On May 14, 1607...

5/14/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Captain Edward-Maria Wingfield, president of the ruling council, chooses the site for a permanent settlement and names it James Cittie. The first permanent English settlement in North America is thereby officially established. The settlement and the adjacent river are named in honor of the English King, James I.
 
Edward-Maria Wingfield was the only member of the Virginia Company’s leaders to go to Jamestown to oversee his investment and became the colony’s first president. Wingfield came from a wealthy family England and served in the military in Holland and Ireland. His leadership in Virginia became controversial as the colonists were displeased with the way Wingfield ran the colony.  They eventually removed Wingfield from office and had him jailed for a short period. Wingfield stayed in the colony less than a year and returned to England where he died sometime after 1619.
Edward-Maria Wingfield was born in 1550 in Stonley Priory located about one-hundred miles north of London. His father, Thomas-Maria Wingfield, received the added name “Maria” from his godmother, Queen Mary of France (Henry VIII’s sister), and passed it on to his son. Young Edward attended a school for barristers in 1576 but he left his studies uncompleted after three years to fight against the Spanish in Holland. He also saw military service in Ireland before his involvement with the Virginia Company.
Wingfield became one of the chief financial contributors to the Virginia Company along with Rev. Richard Hakluyt (the younger), George Popham, Thomas Gates, George Somers, Thomas Hanham, Raleigh Gilbert, and William Parker. When the young company was in financial trouble, Wingfield mortgaged his estate to support the venture. Edward-Maria Wingfield was the only senior company member to risk his life in the New World. This made him the logical choice for the first president. However, his presidency was short-lived and unhappy due to many factors. Primarily it was his military background and management style that created a rift with the people of the colony.
Edward-Maria Wingfield was a rather mysterious figure who deserves credit for getting the colony up and running. He risked his life at age 56 to make the voyage to Jamestown while the rest of his peers waited in London to watch their investment from afar. Many historians have commented on Wingfield’s shortcomings in leadership but none can deny the important role he played in establishing Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America.

- John Graves, Jamestowne Society Communication Committee 2018-2019

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    To Our Contributors 

    We welcome properly researched contributions of ancestor profiles, vignettes and comments from members that focus on their ancestors’ roles in Jamestown’s history, plus other aspects of their lives, events and experiences in the colony. PLEASE NOTE that all information must be documented and backed up by primary source documents, and not unverifiable information and family and urban legends. Submissions without this backup may be rejected. Please limit contributions and blog entries solely to the ancestors themselves, and do not include subsequent lineage information. Entries should be no more than 400 words.
    ​
    NOTE: Contributors are solely responsible for all entries' content.

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture
About Us

Mission
Articles
By-Laws
Contact us at 

​Jamestowne Society 
3901 Midlands Road
​Williamsburg, VA 23188-2575
804-353-1226
jamestowne.society@verizon.net

This website is the property of the Jamestowne Society.  Graphics and information may be copied or used ONLY for purposes of furthering the Society's goals.
For technical issues with this website, contact the Website Administrator here
​© Jamestowne Society 2021