Jessé de Forest

Jessé de Forest (1576 – October 22, 1624) was the leader of a group of Walloon Huguenots who fled Europe due to religious persecutions. They emigrated to the New World, where he planned to found New-Belgium.

Jessé de Forest was born in Avesnes (County of Hainaut, now Nord, France). The family name originated from the village of Forest in the canton of Landrecies near Avesnes. (A Sports Illustrated article incorrectly claims that Jessé was a son of the French king Henri IV.) Around 1609 he left Avesnes for Sedan and Montcornet before settling in Leiden, the Netherlands.

In Leiden, he moved to obtain the right to emigrate with his own and other Walloon families to the New World. During his stay, he also met Pilgrim Fathers, future passengers of the Mayflower. De Forest served with Prince Maurice of Nassau as a lieutenant and captain.

On February 5, 1621, Jessé de Forest sent a round robin petition, to Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester, English ambassador to The Hague. It applied for permission to settle about fifty Walloon and French Huguenot families that planned to follow the Puritans to America (then called the West Indies) in Virginia. De Forest asked to dispose over a territory of eight English miles radius. Known as the Round Robin, this document is now preserved in the British Public Record Office. On August 11, 1621, the Virginia Company gave an agreement in principle, but raised some restrictions. The worst one was the refusal to allow the settlers to dwell together in one autonomous colony. De Forest declined this proposition.

...
Wikipedia