John Ratcliffe (governor)

John Ratcliffe was an explorer and colonist from England. In 1607, Ratcliffe became governor of Jamestown in Virginia and in 1609, Ratcliffe was executed by a group of Pamunkey who killed him by flaying him.

Name

When Ratcliffe was born in 1549, he was named John Sicklemore. By 1605, he changed his name to Ratcliffe.

Virginia

Ratcliffe sailed to Virginia as captain of a ship called The Discovery in 1607. At the time, Governor Edward Maria Wingfield was stealing food from his people for himself so Ratcliffe worked with Captain John Smith to get Wingfield to lose his position so Ratcliffe could become the new governor.

Governorship

Ratcliffe sent Captain Smith to trade with the Native Americans and the colonists were angry since they thought that Ratcliffe was giving too much away. Ratcliffe also had them build a palace for the Governor when a lot of people in Virginia were sick and dying so they made Ratcliffe resign.

Death

In 1609, Ratcliffe was Captain of a group of Englishmen who wanted to trade with the Powhatan giving them copper to get corn. Ratcliffe came with 25 men to the meeting he had arranged with the Powhatan but found it was a trap. They killed 23 of Ratcliffe’s men and also tortured Ratcliffe to death but the other two got away and told everyone what had happened. Powhatan women tied mussel shells to Ratcliffe so that they could tear his skin from his body set it on fire and then killed him by burning what was left of his body.

Popular Culture

Ratcliffe is the villain of the Disney movie Pocahontas (1995 film) where he wants all the gold in Virginia and wants to kill all Powhatan because he’s greedy and racist and he’s also in the sequel where he tries to get King James VI and I to let him murder all Powhatan for revenge.