John West in the Convivium Philosophicum

Source-control position

The diner is John West, not Thomas West. Julian Neuhauser identifies him as probably the member of the colonial West family who became governor of Virginia in 1629. The identification is probable rather than supplied by a patronymic or office in the poem.

The full Jonson audit found no independent Jonson–West letter, poem, dedication, payment, manuscript, or recorded meeting. West therefore remains a genuine negative result in the person-by-person map. His importance is his presence in a company with substantial Virginia and colonial connections, not a currently proved personal relationship with Jonson.

Source: Julian T. S. Neuhauser, “Sirenaicks, Guilds and a New Coryate Manuscript,” The Review of English Studies 74.313 (2023): 31–46, open-access article.

Full network context: JONSON CONVIVIUM FULL NETWORK RESEARCH 2026 09 01.

Quoted source passage

Neuhauser identifies the diner as:

John West (likely the John West who was a member of the West family of

colonizers and who went on to become governor of the Virginia colony in 1629)

Citations

• Neuhauser, Julian T. S. “Sirenaicks, Guilds and a New Coryate Manuscript.”

The Review of English Studies 74.313 (2023): 31–46. Open-access article.

Notes on access

Neuhauser's open article and local extracted text were checked. No West-family manuscript was inspected in this pass.