John Ravenscroft, Sr.

Elizabeth Hamlin and Thomas Ravencroft’s only known child was John Ravenscroft (abt.1710-bef.1772). Although Thomas's will has not been found, the Court minutes for 4 July 1739 show that John was appointed his father's executor and that he assigned a debt to Elizabeth Ravenscroft, for which she obtained a judgment.[10] This appears to be the Elizaabeth who is the subject of this profile.

John Ravernscroft was born about 1710 to Thomas Ravenscroft (1688-bef.1736) and Elizabeth (Hamlin) Ravenscroft (abt.1690-). He was raised initally in James City County–probably in Williamsburg, where his widowed grandmother had married as her second husband, Thomas Hadley, the contractor who had built the Main Building of the College of William and Mary in 1695. His father had attained the position of sheriff of James City County in 1722, the year before the family moved to the Maycox plantation on the south shore of the James River in Prince George County.[1]

The Ravenscroft family had been associated with shipping since the time of his paternal grandfather, who had come to Virginia after being imprisoned in Massachusetts due to his association with Sir Edmund Andros.[1][2] Three years before the move to Prince George County in 1623, his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth (Hamlin) Ravenscroft (abt.1690-), had died. For twenty years prior to her death, she had been the owner of the Maycox plantation. Her family had been involved in shipping activity between England, Virginia and Barbados even before her husband died in 1699 and left her the property. Her initial neighbor across the James was William Byrd I, who died in 1704.

In 1705. William Byrd I's son, William Byrd II, succeeded him as Receiver–General of the Virginia Colony, a frequent member of the Virginia Council, and owner of the Westover plantation directly across the James River from Maycox. The Hamlin and later Ravenscroft family became part of a coterie that shared part of Byrd's business and social interests. Byrd kept diaries in a shortland of his day that recorded many dealing with this family. Unfortunately, the only fragments that survived are from 1709–1712, 1717–1721, and 1739–1741.

Byrd had initially prepared John's uncle, Peter Hamlin (-abt.1711), to provide a convenient connection to business interests between Virginia, Barbados and England. When Peter made an eight–month visit to England in 1710, he carried letters from Byrd. Following this he became a messenger for Byrd and reported to him on shipping activity. However, Peter Hamlin died in 1711 of smallpox and John's other uncles did not develop this relationship with Byrd.

In February, 1735/6, when John was about 25 years old, he made a trip to Massachusetts, the region that his paternal grandfather left in 1692 with John's four–year old father. His trip may have had educational purposes similar to those of John's deceased uncle, Peter Hamlin, and like Peter Hamlin, John Ravenscroft carried a letter, which in his case has survived. The letter, dated 20 February 1735, was sent to Benjamin Lynde, then Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Court, and reminded him of their youthful intrigues at the Middle Temple in London, where they studied and were admitted to the bar together.

To Mr. Lynde, of Salem, Mass
"Virginia, the 20th of February, 1735[6]"
"S'r"
"Considering the frequent opportunities you have of sending your commands to your Friends here I wonder by what misbehaviour on my part you have not honour'd me with a syllable since th return of Mr. Eppes. I trouble you with a long Epistle by that Gentlemen, tho' your silence almost tempts me to suppose he never delivered it. Yet this baulk don't discourage me from akeing a second attack upon your meditations. I can depend upon his Young Gentleman's waiting upon you with my respects. He is son of one of your own Countrymen*, Mr. Ravenscroft, who haveing some Relatives there, has sent his son to make them a visit. Besides he hopes to learn many usefull things in that industrious part of the world, and contrary to the custom of many Travellers, return both wiser & better, both which he will have a fair chance to do it you will please to shew his Modesty some countenance. You and I both remember what an advanage it was to two bashfull people to be taken notice of by the worthys of a strange country. ..."[3]
The letter may illustrate the way in which Byrd combined his business and social connections. Byrd was very regular in his habits, so this letter on behalf of John Ravenscroft is likely to be typical of the method by which he used his connections to maintain his influence over Virginia affairs.

It appears that Byrd believed that John Ravenscroft did return "wiser & better" from his trip to New England. John's father Thomas Ravenscroft died about January 1736/7 and John succeeded to his family's interests. During the 1739–1741 period covered by the third surviving segment of Byrd's diaries, John visited Westover 21 times, often with persons who were family, ship captains, such as Captain Colin Dunlap of Glasgow or both, such as Captain Thomas Bolling of the ship Harrison.[4] John's activites for this time period also appear in the Vestry Book of Bristol Parish, where he undertook to build a Chapel, just as his father Thomas had undertaken to build a church five years earlier.[5]

Research Notes

Some elements of John's life are uncertain, including his date of death and the identity of his and his son's spouse(s). It appers to be agreed that Dr. John Ravenscroft Jr. (abt.1730-aft.1781) is his son and Bishop John Stark Ravenscroft (1772-1830) is his grandson. The Dictionary of North Carolina Biography contains a detailed biography of Rev. Ravenscroft, who became the first Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in that state.[6] That biography and WikiTree identify the Bishop's mother as Lillias (Miller) Stewart (abt.1745-). The notes to the Secret Diary of William Byrd II identifies her as Rebecca Stark, apparently the same person identified on WikiTree as the Bishop's grandmother, and hence the wife of the subject of the present profile, Rebecca (Starke) MacMurdo (-aft.1772).

Rebecca (Starke) McMurdo is now assigned as John Ravencroft's wife, said to have been born about 1710 and to have married George McMurdo after John Ravencroft's death. However, she is said to have been the daughter of William Starke (abt.1692-abt.1755) and Mary Ann (Bolling) Starke (1708-1795), who married in 1727, clearly invalidating her supposed birth date.

William Byrd recorded a visit by "Johnny Ravenscroft and Mr. [Hugh] Miller on 16 March 1741.[4]. Byrd's diary for 1739–1741 records many visits from John Ravenscroft, often for dinner, but never accompanied by his spouse, even when Byrd identifies other spouses. There are several possibilities, including that his first wife, the mother of Dr. John Ravenscroft, died before this period of Byrd's diary. He may have remarried, perhaps to Rebecca Stark, which would explain the presence of Geoge McMurdo as a party interested in the sale of the Maycox plantation in 1772.[7]

Sources

1. “The Starke Family.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 4, no. 4, 1896, pp. 270–72. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1915467. Accessed 15 Sep. 2022.
2. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ravenscroft-6
   1. Leon Gardiner Tyler, Encylopedia of Virginia Biography (New York: Lewis historical publishing co., 1915), Vol. 1, 312; https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044021203278?urlappend=%3Bseq=346...
   2. Wikipedia contributors, "Edmund Andros," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edmund_Andros&oldid=1092... (accessed June 18, 2022).
   3. "Letters of William Byrd, 2d, of Westover, VA," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography,, Vol. 9, 241-44 (January 1902); http://books.google.com/books?id=kDXBpQL5VQUC&pg=PA242&dq=ravenscro...
   4. Maude H. Woodfin & Marion Tinling, ed., Another Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover for the Years 1739–1741 (Richmond, Virginia: The Dietz Press 1942) see 10, 21, 38, 59, 78–79, 104, 142, etc.
   5. Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, trans., The Vestry Book and Register of Bristol Parish, Virginia 1720–1789 (Richmond: Private printing, 1898), 73, 90, 96–97; https://archive.org/details/vestrybookandre01chamgoog (accessed 19 Jun 2022).
   6. Jaquelin Drane Nash, "Ravenscroft, John Stark 12 May 1772–5 Mar 1830; accessed online on 19 Jun 2022 at https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/ravenscroft-john-stark
   7. "For Sale upon very reasonable terms by Bolling Stark, Attorney for George McMurdo and John Ravenscroft", Rind's Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg, Virginia), 24 Dec 1772), 3; viewed on 19 Jun 2022 at Newspapers.com.
   8. Haywood, Marshall De Lancey, “Lives of the Bishops of North Carolina, From the Establishment of the Episcopate in that State Down to the Division of the Diocese,” Alfred Williams & Co., Raleigh, NC, 1910. Digital image at Google Books - http://bit.ly/31uNwET