Christopher Wormeley


Christopher Wormeley was an English military officer who served as governor of Tortuga before becoming the secretary of state for the Virginia Colony as well as captain of the fort at Old Point Comfort beginning in 1638. He also served on the Virginia Governor's Council, as would his younger brother Ralph Wormeley Sr. and son Christopher Wormeley Jr.

Early life and education

The son of merchant Christopher Wormeley was born in York County, England. He had a younger brother Ralph who had emigrated to the Virginia colony by 1635. The family could trace its descent from Sir John de Wormeley of Hadfield, York County, England.

Military and bureaucratic career

On July 6, 1631, the Providence Island Company commissioned Captain Wormeley to succeed Anthony Hilton in governing the island called "Association", better known as Tortuga off mainland Hispaniola. In January, 1635, the island was captured by the Spanish Empire.
After the capture of Tortuga, Captain Wormeley sailed to Virginia Colony. In 1636, he was appointed a justice of the peace for what was initially called Charles River County. Shortly thereafter, Wormeley was appointed a member of the Virginia Governor's Council, and as such supported the unpopular governor John Harvey. Wormeley also commanded the militia of Charles River and Elizabeth City counties in 1639 and 1640. Beginning in 1638, Wormeley was captain of the fort at Old Point Comfort. When the colony's secretary, Mathew Kemp, fled to England in 1640, Wormeley may have accompanied him, both being unpopular, and had difficulty returning to Virginia. Wormeley later confessed to having unjustly adjudicated against a man named Taylor while a commissioner for Elizabeth City county, and the royal council ordered him to make reparation to Taylor, but did not disbar him from the Virginia governor's council when he returned.

Planter

Wormeley acquired 1,420 acres on the York River, including the east side of what became known as Wormeley Creek and established a plantation. At least two of the people for whose immigration he paid and thus acquired the right to patent land were enslaved Africans. Wormeley or his son hosted several prominent royalist exiles at his plantation in 1650 .

Personal life

Wormeley married Mary Adams in England, who bore at least two children who survived him, as well as accompanied him to the Virginia colony and remarried after his death. Their son, Christopher Wormeley Jr. inherited land from their father and developed at least one plantation further upstream on the York River in what had become Lancaster and later Middlesex County. The younger Wormeley also served on the Governor's Council and proved unpopular. This man's daughter Elizabeth successively married colonial secretary Richard Kemp, councillor Thomas Lunsford and Major General Robert Smith.

Death and legacy

Wormeley last attended governor's council meetings in 1642 and 1643, so one biographer believes he died in that year. Digitized York County records show his will was admitted to probate by the spring of 1645, with his brother Ralph and widow Mary as executors. However, another biographer believes he died in 1656, possibly because a British sea captain of the same name died in Yorkshire in 1655.