John Ratcliffe

John Ratcliffe (born John Sicklemore; – ) was an early Jamestown, Virginia settler and sea captain. Ratcliffe was an original member of the Virginia Governor's Council and became acting president (or governor) before his death. He was tortured to death by the Pamunkey people in the winter of 1609–1610.

Early Life John Sicklemore was born in Lancashire. 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, in 1605.

Voyage to Virginia Ratcliffe commanded the 20-ton pinnace Discovery on the voyage to Jamestown and was named to the colonial council when the sealed orders were opened in Virginia. Discovery was the smallest of the three ships and carried 21 people. The fleet left London on 20 December 1606, anchored in the Downs on 5 January, and remained there for some time by contrary winds and storms. During the voyage, Smith recorded that Ratcliffe urged turning back to England after the ships had sailed three days beyond their expected position without sighting land. Instead, an overnight storm drove the fleet to the Virginia coast. The expedition sighted Virginia on 26 April 1607 and reached the future Jamestown site on 13 May, with the colonists landing the following day to begin fortifying the settlement.

Jamestown council and presidency

Ratcliffe was one of the councillors named in the Virginia Company's sealed instructions, which were opened after the expedition reached Virginia. During the colony's first summer, disputes arose within the council over provisions. Wingfield attributed the conflict partly to demands by councillors for larger allowances for themselves and certain sick men, which he said he refused without their warrant because he believed it would endanger the colony's food supply. According to Wingfield, members of the council then plotted to depose him and make Ratcliffe the next president. On 10 September 1607, Ratcliffe, John Smith, and John Martin came to Wingfield's tent with a warrant to remove him. Wingfield subsequently referred to Ratcliffe as the "new President".

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, 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. Ratcliffe had been sick in the first summer of Jamestown, and never recovered to the change of climate. The account of his death was relayed by the surviving Captain William Phettiplace, and recorded by George Percy.

As a consequence of his misfortune, he was referred to as the "Luckless and Ill-fated Captain Ratcliffe".

In popular culture Ratcliffe is the main antagonist of Disney's Pocahontas (1995), portrayed as a greedy and ruthlessly ambitious man who 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 no gold discovered in colonial Virginia. Here, he was voiced by David Ogden Stiers, who gave him a very British-influenced Mid-Atlantic accent. In this adaptation, he is accompanied by his pug Percy (this name is derived from the English colonist George Percy) and by his servant Wiggins (also voiced by Stiers). Unlike the real events, 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 into allowing him to send a large navy armada to perpetrate a genocide against the Powhatans by attempting to sabotage the diplomatic meetings between Pocahontas and the king. He is finally arrested and exposed for his crimes of incompetence and treachery and is imprisoned by King James.