Matthew Scrivener (1580 – January 7, 1609) was an English colonist in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He served briefly as acting governor of Jamestown, but drowned while attempting to cross to nearby Hog Island in a storm in 1609. Eight other colonists were also drowned, half of them members of the governing Council, including

Bartholomew Gosnold Bartholomew Gosnold (1571 – 22 August 1607) was an English barrister, explorer and privateer who was instrumental in founding the Virginia Company in London and Jamestown in colonial America. He led the first recorded European expeditio ...

's brother Anthony. Scrivener was succeeded by

Captain John Smith John Smith (baptized 6 January 1580 – 21 June 1631) was an English soldier, explorer, colonial governor, Admiral of New England, and author. He played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first pe ...

. Scrivener was the son of Ralph or Rauff Scrivener of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

and of Belstead, in Suffolk, England, a barrister and city bailiff. He was baptized into the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

at St Nicholas’s, Ipswich, on 3 March 1580, at a time when

infant baptism Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that ...

was almost always given at a few days old. Scrivener arrived in Virginia on the first supply ship, after the colony had been established. Listed as "Matthew Scrivener, gentleman" in early Virginia records, he was a supporter and friend of

. At the time of his death at the age of 28, Scrivener was acting as the first secretary for the Colony of Jamestown, suggesting that he had resigned as governor, owing to his youth and lack of administrative experience, to be replaced by his friend Smith. His sister was married to the cousin of the first President of Jamestown,

Edward Maria Wingfield Edward Maria Wingfield, sometimes hyphenated as ''Edward-Maria Wingfield'' (1550 in Stonely Priory, near Kimbolton – 1631) was a soldier, Member of Parliament, (1593) and English colonist in America. He was the son of Thomas Maria Wingfield, ...

. A year after Scrivener's death by drowning, his brother John Scrivener in England purchased Sibton Abbey in Suffolk, where Scrivener family descendants still live today.Bernard Burke, ''A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain'' (London, 1863).

References

External links

The Second Charter of Virginia, May 23, 1609 (names Matthew Screvener, Gent.), The Avalon Project, Yale Law School Library

References

External links

Further reading