The New International Encyclopædia/De la Warr, Thomas West, Lord

DE LA WARR, or DELAWARE, Thomas West, Lord (1577-1618). A Colonial Governor of Virginia. He succeeded his father as Baron De la Warr, and became a member of Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council in 1602. In 1609 he became a member of the Council of Virginia; and in February, 1610, was appointed first Governor and Captain-General of Virginia, arriving at Jamestown on June 10, just in time to prevent the original colonists from abandoning the settlement. Though he lived with ridiculous pomp, he was an able and energetic officer, and infused new life into the previously mismanaged colony. He planted a small settlement on the site of the present Hampton, and built two forts, Henry and Charles, named in honor of King James's sons. In March, 1611, he sailed for the West Indies to restore his health, but was driven by a storm into the river which now bears his name. He never returned to Jamestown, though he remained the nominal Governor and contributed large sums of money to the enterprise. In 1618, in answer to the urgent request of the colonists, then smarting under Argall's oppression, he sailed again for America, but died on the voyage. His The Relation of . . . Lord De La Warr . . . to the Council of Virginia, originally published in 1611, was republished in 1858.