8o
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
name was second in the royal patent of Apr. lo,
1606, he took no active part in colonial affairs
until 1609, when he sailed with Sir Thomas
Gates and Capt. Newport in the expedition
of that year. He was fifty-odd years of age
at the time of his sailing and had already dis-
tinguished himself in the military and naval
service, having commanded several expeditions
and, in 1595, accompanied Capt. Amias Pres-
ton to the West Indies. He was knighted at
Whitehall, July 22^, 1603, in reward for his
services, and represented Lyme Regis in parlia-
ment for a inunber of years. He w'as ap-
pointed admiral for the colony, and was on
the "Sea Adventure" on the way to take com-
mand, when she was cast away. Sir George
Somers was the first on the shipwrecked ves-
sel to sight land, but strange to say, his dis-
covery was not hailed with the joy that men in
such straits are prone to feel. The reason for
this is explained by the fact that the shores
he had seen were those of a Bermudan island,
supposed by mariners to be inhabited by
fairies and devils. However, in a choice be-
tween them and the deep sea, the party, with
more prudence than religion, chose the former
and were soon comfortably landed, where, to
their further comfort, they found the fairies
to be flocks of birds upon the shore and the
devils, herds of wild swine running in the
wood. After sojourning there until they had
completed the construction of two vessels to
be their transport, they set sail therein for
Virginia. But Somers was not destined to
more than reach the promised land, for, find-
ing the colonists in the sorriest of plights, and
well nigh starving to death, he volunteered to
return at once to the fruitful Bermudas for
supplies. He started at once, but adverse
winds drove him as far North as New Eng-
land before he finally reached his destination.
His death occurred on the 9th of Nov., 1610,
shortly after his arrival in Bermuda, and it is
stated that it was occasioned by a too hearty
repast on one of the Bermuda "devils," with
which he had intended lading his ships for the
colony. Feeling the approach of death, he ex-
horted his followers to perform the task they
had undertaken without him. This, however,
they did not do. They buried his heart in the
island and his cedar ship with his dead body
ai last arrived at Whitechurch, in Dorsetshire,
about Feb. 26, 161 1, where it was buried with
military honors.
Gates, Sir Thomas, governor. 1609 (q. v.).
Weyman, Sir Ferdinando, had every reason to regard the Virginia colony as the appropriate scene for his endeavors. It might almost be called a family matter, related, as he was, on all sides to the prominent figures in the enter- prise. He was a cousin of Thomas Lord Dela- ware, governor of Virginia, and of Francis and John West who played distinguished parts there, the latter being also governor. His wife was a sister-in-law of Sir Francis Wyatt, gov- ernor of Virginia, and a niece of Sir George Sandys, the poet, and treasurer of the colony Another cousin, Penelope West, married Her- bert Pelham and of their sixteen children, one was the first treasurer of Harvard College, and another the wife of Gov. Bellingham of Massachusetts. Weyman was born in Cas- well, Oxfordshire, the son of Thomas Wey- man, Esq., of that place, and came to the colony in 1610. On June 12, of that year, he was appointed admiral and master of the horse. But W^eyman was not destined to en- joy his honors long, for, as was the case with so many of his fellows, he died shortly after his arrival in the colony, leaving a young daughter. Of this young lady's life in that
