My ancestor, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger was born in 1521 and was executed in the Tower of London on this date, April 11, 1554.

His father, Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, was a famous confidant of Anne Boleyn and a poet of reknown. He had Protestant sympathies, as did his son.

Wyatt the Younger may have played a small role in the battle for succession following Edward VI's death, on the part of Lady Jane Grey, who was quickly executed.

After Mary assumed the throne and announced her intentions to marry Phillip II of Spain and thus undo the English Reformation and solidify Roman Catholic control over the English throne, Wyatt the Younger lead a rebellion to London attempting to overthrow Mary and protect the Protestant Reformation in England. The citizens of London did not favor his plan, so he was captured and then executed. I have visted the spot where this occurred.

The Wyatt line, however, continued, and I have many ancestors who have born the honorable name over the centuries.

[Edited on 4-10-2006 by VirginiaHuguenot]

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Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"Let your Morning Thoughts, and your last Evening Thoughts, be what shall become of you to all Eternity." -- Matthew Poole