WYATT, Sir Francis, governor of Virginia, born in England about 1575; died in Bexley, Kent, England, in 1644. He was appointed governor of Virginia in 1621 to succeed Sir George Yeardley, and with a fleet of nine sail arrived there in October of that year. He was accompanied by his brother, Reverend Haut Wyatt, as clergyman of the party, William Claiborne as surveyor, John Pott as physician, and George Sandys, the translator of the "Metamorphoses of Ovid," as treasurer. Sir Francis brought with him a new constitution for the colony, by which all former immunities and franchises were confirmed, trial by jury was secured, and the assembly was privileged to meet annually upon the call of the governor, who was vested with the right of veto. No act of that body was to be valid unless it should be ratified by the Virginia company" but, on the other hand, no order of the company was to be obligatory without the concurrence of the assembly. This famous ordinance furnished the model of every subsequent form of government in the Anglo-American colonies. During his first year of governorship 21 vessels arrived in Virginia, bringing more than 1,300 settlers" but in March, 1622, the Indians rose and massacred 347 persons, including 10 members of the council, and the remainder of his service was disturbed by continual strife with the savages; but he persisted in giving larger liberties to the people, and in March, 1623, appointed monthly courts. He was wise and pacific in Isis management, and the colony grew and prospered. Meanwhile the Virginia company incurred the ill-will of King James by its opposition to his appointment of its officers. He sent commissioners to Virginia to gather material to work its ruin, and on 16 June, 1624, its charter was annulled" but Sir Francis was continued as governor by royal commission, and retained in 1625 by Charles I. The death of his father, Sir John Wyatt, recalled him in 1626" but he returned in 1639, and, displacing Sir John Harvey, who had offended the king, held the governorship till 1842, when he was succeeded t)y Sir William Berkeley.