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Sir Edwin Sandys
Edwin Sandys was an English politician and parliamentary leader under James I who joined the Virginia Company in 1607, became its governor in 1619, a…
Timeline
- 1580–1603London · LondonEducated at Oxford and the Middle Temple, he entered the law and Parliament in the 1580s, known for independent views, and had already built a reputation in the Commons before 1603.
- 1607–1619London · LondonDeeply involved in the Virginia Company after 1607, from 1611–1618 he pushed a colonial reform program of immigrant settlement, private landholding, and diversified crops to replace a single-crop tobacco economy, clashing sharply with the Southampton faction over governance policy.
- 1619–1624London · LondonElected company governor in April 1619, he approved the Great Reformation Charter and brought about the Virginia Assembly that July—the first elected assembly in a North American colony; after the company's charter was revoked in 1624, he remained active in parliamentary politics.
Sources
- Sir Edwin Sandys — Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edwin-Sandys-English-politician
- Virginia Company of London — Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/topic/Virginia-Company