English documents claim colonists from Bermuda settled the island in 1635, while a French letter of patent claims settlement on 8 March 1635 by a Monsieur Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc, who was succeeded by his nephew Monsieur du Parquet. Thomas Warner sent Capt. Judlee with 300-400 Englishmen to establish a settlement at Praslin Bay but they were attacked over three weeks by Caribs, until the few remaining fled on 12 Oct. 1640. King Louis XIII of France ceded the island to the French West India Company in 1642. In 1650, Capt. du Parquet and Monsieur Houel bought the island, sending de Rousselan and 40 Frenchmen to establish a fort on the La Toc or Tapion headland. The French drove off an attempted English invasion in 1659, but allowed the Dutch to build a redoubt near Vieux Fort Bay in 1654. On 6 April 1663, the Caribs sold St. Lucia to Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham, English governor of the Caribbean. He invaded the island with 1100 Englishmen and 600 Amerindians in 5 ships-of-war and 17 pirogues forcing the 14 French defenders to flee.