Remains found at Jamestown may belong to prominent governor

JAMESTOWN, Va. – Archeologists may have discovered the remains of the man who oversaw the first representative government assembly in English America.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the bones were found in Jamestown, Virginia, on the site of the first permanent English colony.

The skeleton may belong to Sir George Yeardley, who was about 40 when he died in 1627. He served as governor of the colony three times. He also convened the first meeting of the House of Burgesses in 1619.

Yeardley was also one of the colony’s first slave holders. The first enslaved Africans are believed to have arrived in English North America in 1619.

His remains were found in a prominent spot in one of the first churches on the site. Identification will likely take months.

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Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com