Walter Shelley sailed to the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia

Jamestown, Virginia

Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...

 before 1619.

Walter Shelley was one of the original subscribers to the London Company

London Company

The London Company was an English joint stock company established by royal charter by James I of England on April 10, 1606 with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.The territory granted to the London Company included the coast of North America from the 34th parallel ...

. He was a member of the First Legislative Assembly in America and sat for Smith's Hundred

Smith's Hundred

Smith's Hundred or Smythe's Hundred was a colonial English settlement in Virginia. It was one of the original James River plantations named after the treasurer of the Virginia Company, Sir Thomas Smith. It was settled by the English in 1617 and after 1620, was known as Southampton Hundred in honor...

 when they met at Jamestown on July 30, 1619. His name appears on a monument to the first House of Burgesses

House of Burgesses

The House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America...

which stands at Jamestown today.

Shelley died of fever in 1619, very shortly after the Assembly began.