Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 1.djvu/40

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

ested in the Bermudas in 1616; knighted at Hiitton House, November 8, 1617. He was a leading member of the Warwick party in the factions of the Virginia Company, 1622, and wrote many of the papers and documents emanating from his side. After the dissolution of the company in 1624, he was one of the commissioners for Virginia appointed by the King. He was also member of the council for New England in 1620, and deputy governor of the Bahamas Company in 1635. He died in 1636.

Danvers, Sir John, regicide, born about 1588, third and youngest son of Sir John Danvers, of Dauntsey, Wiltshire, by Elizabeth, fourth daughter and coheiress of John Neville, last Lord Latimer. He was a very handsome man, and it is said people would run to see him on the streets. In 1608 he married Magdalene Herbert, widow of Richard Herbert and mother of ten children, including George Herbert, the poet, and Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury. He was knighted by King James, and under Charles I, became a gentleman of the privy chamber. He was a member of the Virginia council, 1612-20, and was one of the Sandys faction in the Virginia Company, 1620-25. He acquired an intense jealousy of the crown and sided with the parliament against the King. He was a member of the commission nominated to try the King in January, 1649, and signed the death warrant. In February of the same year he was given a seat in the council of state, which he retained till the council's dissolution in 1653. He died at his home in Chelsea in April, 1655. and was buried at Dauntsey. His name was in the act of attainder passed at the restoration. He had two brothers—Sir Charles Danvers, who was beheaded for participation in Essex's Rebellion of 1601; and Sir Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby, and afterwards a friend of Charles I., who died in 1644.

Wroth, Sir Thomas, prominent member of the Virginia Company, was brother-in-law of Sir Nathaniel Rich, and sided with him against Southampton and Sandys. He was a subscriber to the Virginia Company in 1609, and after the dissolution of the charter was one of the commissioners appointed to take charge of the colony July 15, 1624. On November 3, 1620, he became a member of the council in New England, and June 25, 1653, he was made a commissioner for the government of the Bermudas. In domestic politics Wroth joined the opposition to the King and was a member of the Long Parliament. He adopted the views of the independents, and on June 3, 1647-48, moved the famous resolution that Charles I. be impeached and the kingdom settled without him. He was appointed one of the judges to try the King, but attended only one session. After the restoration he petitioned for pardon, which was apparently granted, and Wroth lived in retirement until his death, aged 88, at Petherton Park, July 11, 1672.

Wolstenholme, Sir John, merchant, was second son of Sir John Wolstenholme, of London, of an ancient Derbyshire family. He was a leading man in the East India Company and the Virginia Company. On April 28, 1619, he was one of the candidates for treasurer of the Virginia Company, and in May. 1622, was recommended by the King as a person most suited to the office, but he was not elected. He was a member of the commission appointed July 15, 1624, to take charge of the company's affairs after its dissolution in May, and in 1631 held place on the commission requested