George Sandys
George Sandys (1578-1644) was an English poet, translator, and colonial administrator known for his contributions to literature and his involvement with the early Virginia colony. Born the youngest son of Edwin Sandys, an archbishop, he received an education at the University of Oxford but did not complete a degree. After a troubled marriage to Elizabeth Norton, which ended by 1606, Sandys embarked on a significant journey through Europe and Asia in 1610. His experiences during this trip were documented in his popular travel book, *A Relation of a Journey Begun An. Dom. 1610*, which enriched geographical knowledge at the time.
In 1621, Sandys traveled to Virginia as treasurer of the Virginia Company, where he played an active role in governance and agriculture during his four-year stay. He also began translating Ovid’s *Metamorphoses*, a project that solidified his poetic reputation and was later expanded to include other works. After returning to England, he maintained his literary pursuits and secured the exclusive rights to publish his translations, which were well-regarded by contemporaries such as John Dryden and Alexander Pope. Sandys's legacy is further seen in his influence on later writers, including John Milton. His work reflects a blend of poetic artistry and engagement with the early colonial experience.
On this Page
Subject Terms
George Sandys
- Born: March 2, 1578
- Birthplace: York, Yorkshire, England
- Died: March 4, 1644
- Place of death: Boxley, Abbey Kent, England
Biography
George Sandys, born March 2, 1578, was the youngest son of Edwin Sandys, archbishop of York, and his second wife, Cicily Wilford. Sandys was educated from the age of seven to eleven at St. Peter’s and, shortly after his father died, he entered St. Mary’s Hall at the University of Oxford when he was eleven. He later transferred to Corpus Christi College, where he studied the classics and foreign languages, but he did not take a degree. At eighteen he entered the Middle Temple, where he may have taken a degree. His family then arranged his marriage to Elizabeth Norton, but their conflicting religious and personal beliefs led to marital problems and the marriage was essentially over by 1606. Although the marriage was over, Sandys had legal problems with his estranged wife for many years. Her family took him to court for desertion and lack of financial support.
Perhaps because of his marital problems, Sandys left England in 1610 for a two-year trip through Europe and Asia. He recounted his trip in a popular travel book, A Relation of a Iourney Begun An. Dom. 1610: Fouvre Books Containing a Description of the Turkish Empire, of Ægypt, of the Holy Land, of the Remote Parts of Italy, and Llands Adioyning, dedicated to Prince Charles and published in 1615. The book eventually went through nine editions and contributed to geographical study. After his trip abroad, Sandys renewed his interest in the Virginia Company of London, with which he had become involved in 1607. He also began his translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, five books of which were published before he left for America in 1621 as treasurer of the Virginia Company in Jamestown. He was accompanied by his niece’s husband, Sir Francis Wyatt, who was appointed governor of the Jamestown colony.
Sandys was active during his four-year stay in Virginia. He translated two more books of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in addition to his official duties, which consisted of collecting revenues and encouraging diversified agriculture. After the 1622 massacre at Jamestown, in which three or four hundred colonists were killed, Sandys led a reprisal raid against the Tappahannocks in 1622. When Virginia became a crown colony in 1624, Sandys was made a member of the colony’s council, a post to which he was twice reappointed after his return to England.
He left America on June 25, 1625, but he maintained his Virginia connections. He was unsuccessful, however, when he applied for the secretaryship for a new Virginia commission. King Charles I, to whom Sandys dedicated many of his works, recognized Sandys’s efforts and made him a gentleman of his privy chamber soon after his return to London. Sandys also obtained the exclusive rights to publish and sell his translations of Ovid, which he completed in 1626 and revised in 1632. His poetic reputation rests heavily on his Ovid translations, though he also translated part of Virgil’s Aeneid. During the 1630’s, he devoted himself primarily to the translation of scared lyrics, among them the “Song of Solomon” and the psalms of David. His work was much admired by writers John Dryden and Alexander Pope, and scholars have found echoes of Sandys in John Milton’s work.