Sir Thomas Gates was the governor of Jamestown in the English Colony of Virginia. First adventuring as a young a soldier with Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Francis Drake, and Walter Raleigh during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604), he ascended to the court of James VI and I and was appointed in 1609 to govern Virginia. Enroute to Jamestown, Gates's flagship the Sea Venture became damaged by a storm and shipwrecked on the Bermuda archipelago. The castaways constructed two pinnaces and arrived at Jamestown 10 months later, to find the settlement in a dire situation. Gates ruled with deputy governor Sir Thomas Dale between 1610 and 1614. Their controlled, strict methods were credited with saving the English settlement. Gates would return to England, joined the Council for New England, and later settled in the Netherlands, where he spent the rest of his life.
- Occupation
- civil servant, politician, sailor, soldier
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of England
