John Ratcliffe (born John Sicklemore; 1549 – December 1609) was an early Jamestown

colonist A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

mariner A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

and captain of , the smallest of three ships (the other two being ''

Susan Constant ''Susan Constant'', possibly ''Sarah Constant'', captained by Christopher Newport, was the largest of three ships of the English Virginia Company (the others being ''Discovery'' and '' Godspeed'') on the 1606–1607 voyage that resulted in the fo ...

'' and '' Godspeed'') that sailed from the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 1 ...

on 19 December 1606, to English-claimed

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

to found a colony, arriving 26 April 1607. He later became the second president of the colony of Jamestown. He was killed by the

Pamunkey The Pamunkey Indian Tribe is one of 11 Virginia Indian tribal governments recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the state's first federally recognized tribe, receiving its status in January 2016. Six other Virginia tribal governments, t ...

Native Americans in late 1609.

Biography

Sicklemore was born in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. In early life, he changed his name to Ratcliffe as an alias. He served as a seaman before going to Virginia, and he may be the Captain Ratcliffe taken prisoner with Sir Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland and Captain Piggot, at

Mülheim Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr () and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home to many compan ...

, in 1605.

Virginia colony

Ratcliffe commanded ''Discovery'' and became a councillor of the Jamestown Colony. ''Discovery'' was the smallest of all three ships; it had a crew of only 21 men. He became president of the colony upon the deposition of

Edward Maria Wingfield Edward Maria Wingfield, sometimes hyphenated as ''Edward-Maria Wingfield'' (1550 in Stonely Priory, near Kimbolton – 1631) was a soldier, Member of Parliament, (1593) and English colonist in America. He was the son of Thomas Maria Wingfield ...

on 10 September 1607. Ratcliffe fell out of favour with many colonists after enlisting men to build a governor's house. Many colonists also disagreed with how he handled trade with the natives and how he performed during the food shortages during the summer of 1608. Ratcliffe was removed in July 1608 and succeeded by Matthew Scrivener. During the administration of

George Percy The Honourable George Percy (4 September 1580 – 1632) was an English explorer, author, and early Colonial Governor of Virginia. Early life George Percy was born in England, the youngest son of Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland and Lady ...

, Ratcliffe was sent in October 1609 to build a fort at Old Point Comfort, which was named "Algenourne Fort" after one of Percy's ancestors.Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. (1915). ''Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography'', Vol. I, pp. 33–34. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. Ratcliffe had been sick in the first summer of Jamestown, and never recovered to the change of climate. Ratcliffe worked with explorer John Smith to remove Edward Wingfield from the presidency because he was hiding food for himself that the colony needed. Ratcliffe was elected president and asked Smith to organise work details and expeditions to trade with Native Americans. By January 1608, only 38 colonists were alive, and Ratcliffe and the Council planned to return to England on ''Discovery.'' Ratcliffe's overgenerous trading provoked Smith to complain that they would soon run out of items to trade. Ratcliffe left office (either by resignation or deposition) in July 1608, two months before the end of his term. The colonists were also enraged that as they were sick and dying, Ratcliffe ordered they build a capitol in the woods. The colonists dubbed the project "Ratcliffe's Palace." Ratcliffe accompanied

Christopher Newport Christopher Newport (1561–1617) was an English seaman and privateer. He is best known as the captain of the ''Susan Constant'', the largest of three ships which carried settlers for the Virginia Company in 1607 on the way to found the settle ...

when he sailed from Virginia in 1608. In May 1609, he commanded ''Diamond'', one of the ships in the

Third Supply The Jamestown supply missions were a series of fleets (or sometimes individual ships) from 1607 to around 1611 that were dispatched from England by the London Company (also known as the Virginia Company of London) with the specific goal of initially ...

fleet of

Sir Thomas Gates Sir Thomas Gates ( fl.?–1622), was the governor of Jamestown, in the English colony of Virginia (now the Commonwealth of Virginia, part of the United States of America). His predecessor, George Percy, through inept leadership, was responsib ...

Death

During The Starving Time in December 1609 or early 1610, Ratcliffe and 25 fellow colonists were invited to a gathering with a large group of Powhatan Indians. The Englishmen were promised they would be given corn in return for copper, but it was a trap. The colonists were given food baskets that were nearly empty, the Powhatan Indians ambushed them, and Ratcliffe was taken to the village. Only two colonists escaped. Ratcliffe suffered a particularly gruesome fate: he was tied to a stake in front of a fire. Women removed the skin from his entire body with

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

shells and tossed the pieces into the flame as he watched. They skinned his face last and finally burned him at the stake. This story was documented in an eyewitness account that is included in ''The Jamestown Adventure: Accounts of the Virginia Colony, 1605–1614 (Real Voices, Real History)'', edited by Ed Southern. He was given the nickname Luckless Captain Ratcliffe.

In popular culture

Disney's The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

'' (1995), Ratcliffe was portrayed as a greedy and ruthlessly ambitious man, and the film's main

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

. His character believes that the Powhatan tribe is very barbaric and has hidden gold near the outskirts of Virginia. He wants to battle the Native Americans for it, despite the fact that there was never any gold in Virginia. Here, he was voiced by

David Ogden Stiers David Allen Ogden Stiers ( ; October 31, 1942 – March 3, 2018) was an American actor and conductor. He appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, and originated the role of Feldman in ''The Magic Show'', in which he appeared for four ...

, who gave him a

Mid-Atlantic accent The Mid-Atlantic accent, or Transatlantic accent, is a consciously learned accent of English, fashionably used by the late 19th-century and early 20th-century American upper class and entertainment industry, which blended together features rega ...

. In this adaptation, he is accompanied by the

pug The Pug is a breed of dog originally from China, with physically distinctive features of a wrinkly, short-muzzled face and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, most often light brown (fawn) or blac ...

Percy (this name is derived from the English colonist

) and by his servant Wiggins (also voiced by Stiers). He also appeared in the direct-to-video sequel '' Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World'' (1998), where he plans to dupe

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

into allowing him to send a large navy armada to perpetrate a

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

against the Powhatans by attempting to sabotage the diplomatic meetings between Pocahontas and the king. He is finally exposed for his incompetence and treachery and is imprisoned by King James.

Notes

References

*Jamestown https://web.archive.org/web/20091223060121/http://historyisfun.org/index.htm *Beaufort County Court House, 112 W Second St, Washington, NC 27889-1403, Public Records, Log of Transactions
Raymond F. Dolle, "Captain John Smith's Satire of Sir Walter Raleigh"David Morenus, "The Real Pocahontas"
United States Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Papers *Price, David A., ''Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Start of a New Nation'' (New York: Knopf, 2003) *Property Records from Beaufort County Courthouse, North Carolina * '' The Jamestown Adventure: Accounts of the Virginia Colony, 1605–1614 (Real Voices, Real History) by Ed Southern (Editor) '' (Winston-Salem NC: Blair, 2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliffe, John 1549 births 1609 deaths Colonial governors of Virginia English sailors English explorers 17th-century explorers 16th-century English people 17th-century English people 17th-century American people

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

Executed politicians People executed by flaying People executed by burning People from Jamestown, Virginia