History of Ravenscroft

Thomas Ravenscroft

Thomas Ravenscroft, the son of Captain Samuel Ravenscroft, was born in Boston on June 29, 1688. He came to Virginia with his father in 1692, and in 1703, began a five-year apprenticeship with carpenter James Morris. Ravenscroft held a number of public positions. He was sheriff of James City County in 1722, but in 1723 moved to Prince George County, where he purchased a tract of land on the James River originally patented by Captain Samuel Maycox, who was killed by Indians in the 1622 uprising. He was a burgess of Prince George in the assembly of 1727-34, and for a time in that of 1734-40, dying in 1736. His son, John Ravenscroft, was a justice in Prince George County; his great-grandson, John Stark Ravenscroft, was the first bishop of North Carolina.