Virginia Memory, Library of Virginia
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THIS DAY IN VIRGINIA HISTORY

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January 11, 1639

Commission of Charles I's Appointing Sir Francis Wyatt Royal Governor of Virginia, 11 January 1639, Accession 24702, Special Collections, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Charles I Issued A Commission Appointing Sir Francis Wyatt Royal Governor

This faded and chipped document was issued by King Charles I on January 11, 1638 (1639 by the modern calendar), and commissioned Sir Francis Wyatt (1588–1644) royal governor of Virginia. The vellum document still has part of the royal seal attached by a ribbon. In 1621 Wyatt became the last governor of the colony under the authority of the Virginia Company of London and in 1624 the first royal governor of Virginia. This commission made him governor for a second term. He presided over the government of the colony in Jamestown from November 1639 to March 1642.