Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr

Thomas West, 3rd and 12th Baron De La Warr (9 July 1577 – 7 June 1618) was an English-American politician, for whom the bay, the river, and, consequently, a Native American people and U.S. state, all later called "Delaware", were named. "De La Warr" is pronounced "De La War"(not as commonly mistakenly De Laware. (For etymology of the surname itself, see Earl De La Warr§Etymology.)

There have been two creations of Baron De La Warr, and West came from the second. He was the son of Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr, of Wherwell Abbey in Hampshire. He was born at Wherwell, Hampshire, England, and died at sea while travelling from England to the Colony of Virginia.

Biography

West received his education at Queen's College, Oxford. He served in the army under Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and, in 1601, was charged with supporting Essex's ill-fated insurrection against Queen Elizabeth, but he was acquitted of those charges. He succeeded his father as Baron De La Warr, in 1602, and became a member of the Privy Council.

Delaware

Delaware (ⁱ/ˈdɛləwɛər/) is one of the Mid-Atlantic states located in the Northeast megalopolis region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, to the northeast by New Jersey, and to the north by Pennsylvania. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom what is now called Cape Henlopen was originally named.

Delaware is in the northeastern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula and is the second smallest, the sixth least populous, but the sixth most densely populated of the 50 United States. Delaware is divided into three counties, the lowest number of counties of any state. From north to south, the three counties are New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. While the southern two counties have historically been predominantly agricultural, New Castle County has been more industrialized.

Before its coastline was explored by Europeans in the 16th century, Delaware was inhabited by several groups of Native Americans, including the Lenape in the north and Nanticoke in the south. It was initially colonized by Dutch traders at Zwaanendael, near the present town of Lewes, in 1631. Delaware was one of the 13 colonies participating in the American Revolution and on December 7, 1787, became the first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, thereby becoming known as The First State.

Delaware wine

Delaware wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Delaware. Historically, the first Swedish settlers planted grapes and made wine in Delaware as early as 1638.

Delaware has five wineries that each have limited production, the fewest of any state in the United States. The largest winery is Nassau Valley Vineyards, which makes fruit wines in addition to grape wines. Two others are Pizzadili, a small, family business which opened in 2007 and Harvest Ridge Winery, which opened in 2013.

See also

References

Delaware (song)

"Delaware" is a popular song, written by Irving Gordon. The song was published in 1959 and has references to 15 states of the United States. The states were portrayed, in the form of puns, as: Della wear, new jersey, Calla ‘phone ya, how ar’ ya, Mrs sip, mini-soda, Ore gone, I’ll ask ‘er, taxes, Wiscon sin, new brass key, Arkan saw, Tenne see, Flora die and misery.

Gordon was apparently inspired to write the song after the success of another song that he wrote punning on the name of States of the United States of America: "Mister and Mississippi."

The hit version of the song was recorded by Perry Como on December 28, 1959. It was released by RCA Victor Records as a 45rpm single with catalog number 47-7670 and as a stereophonic 45rpm single with catalog number 61-7670. The flip side was "I Know What God Is". The record reached #22 on the Billboard charts in March 1960.

The same recording, with the same B-side, was released by RCA in the United Kingdom (catalog number 1170) where, oddly, it did even better there than in the U.S., reaching #3 on the UK Singles Chart.