Captain John Ratcliffe was the English commander of the smallest ship, Discovery, in the colonial expedition to Virginia in 1607. He was elected president of the colony in 1607 but was killed in September 1609 by Native Americans on orders from Chief Powhatan.
Captain John Ratcliffe was the English commander of the ship Discovery which reached the state of Virginia from England on April 26, 1607. Discovery had a crew of 21 and was the smallest of the three ships of the colonial expedition. The other two were Susan Constant and Godspeed. Ratcliffe was an early English settler and leader of the colonies in Jamestown, Virginia. Jamestown was founded on May 13, 1607.
It was rumored that John Ratcliffe used the alias John Sickelmore, but this was never confirmed. In fact, nothing concrete seems to be documented about his early life under either surname. He was elected president of the governing colony in September 1607, and Captain John Smith was elected president in 1608. The colony was called Fort Algernon and was located at Fort Comfort. Captain James Davis led Fort Algernon after Ratcliffe’s horrific death in September 1609.
The details of John Ratcliffe’s death were so unfortunate that he was remembered as The Luckless Captain Ratcliffe. It is reported that he was killed during his search for food and trade deals along the Pamunkey River. Apparently, he had accused the Native Americans of not trading fairly. Pocahontas’ father, Chief Powhatan, is said to have ordered Ratcliffe’s death. This was at least the second time as Pocahontas had already convinced her father not to have Ratcliffe killed when Powhatan wanted him bludgeoned to death with stone clubs.
John Ratcliffe is said to have been killed in September 1609 on direct orders from Powhatan. He was said to have been tied to a tree with boiling water placed at his feet. It was thought that the women of the tribe scraped his skin off with sharp mussel shells and then threw his face into the fire.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
