MARY RAWSTHORNE RATCLIFFE

Notes for JAMES RATCLIFFE:
The names of James and Mary Ratclife and their children were included in a partial list of the families who arrived at Philadelphia between 1682 and 1687, as follows:
"The Rebecca of Liverpoole James Skinner commander Arrived at Philadelphia the 31st of the 8 mo. [i.e., October] 1685. The passengers names are as followeth:
"James Ratclife, Mary Ratclife Richard Ratclife, Edward Ratclife, Rebecca Ratclife, Rachell Ratclife, free persons from Monsebury in Lancashire.
"James Heyworth, Robert Hewet James Rothwell servants to the said Ratclife." [Michael Tepper, ed., EMIGRANTS TO PENNSYLVANIA, 1641-1819 (1975; reprint Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1992) pp. 13-14.]
Although circumstantial only, it seems apparent that this evidence relates to this James Ratcliff. James's brother Richard had earlier, in 1682, arrived in America from England.

Children of JAMES RATCLIFFE and MARY RAWSTHORNE are:
i. RICHARD26 RATCLIFF, b. about 1674, Lancashire, England; d. Unknown.
ii. EDWARD RATCLIFF, b. about 1676, Lancashire, England; d. Unknown.
iii. REBECCA RATCLIFF, b. about 1678, Lancashire, England; d. Unknown.
iv. RACHELL RATCLIFF, b. about 1680, Lancashire, England; d. Unknown.


67. JOHN25 RATCLIFFE (RICHARD24, JOHN23, JOHN22, JOHN21 RATTCLYFFE, JOHN20, JOHN19 RATCLYFFE, THE BASTARD, JOHN18, JOHN17, JAMES16 RADCLYFFE, RICHARD DE15, JAMES DE14, WILLIAM DE13, RICHARD DE12, WILLIAM DE11, RICHARD DE10 RATCLYFFE, ESQ., OF RADCLIFFE TOWER, ROBERT DE9 RADCLYFFE, ADAM DE8, WILLIAM DE7 RADECLIVE, SHERIFF OF LANCASHIRE, HENRY DE6, NICHOLAS FITZGILBERT DE5, GILBERT DE4 TAILBOIS, 3RD BARON OF KENDAL, ÆLFTRED DE3 TAILLEBOIS, 2D BARON OF KENDAL, IVO DE2, REINFRED1) was born 22 October 1657 in Chapel Hill, Rawtenstall, Lancashire, England, and died 23 February 1734/35 in Haslingden, Lancashire, England. He married ELIZABETH [----?----]. She was born about 1662 in England, and died 9 July 1701 in Haslingden, Lancashire, England.

Children of JOHN RATCLIFFE and ELIZABETH [----?----] are:
i. JAMES26 RATCLIFF, b. 3 March 1686/87; d. Unknown.
ii. JOHN RATCLIFF, b. 27 May 1689; d. Unknown.
iii. GRACE RATCLIFF, b. 20 December 1691; d. Unknown.
iv. EDMUND RATCLIFF, b. 1 May 1694; d. Unknown.
v. RICHARD RATCLIFF, b. 6 February 1698/99; d. Unknown.


68. RICHARD25 RATCLIFFE, ESQUIRE (RICHARD24, JOHN23, JOHN22, JOHN21 RATTCLYFFE, JOHN20, JOHN19 RATCLYFFE, THE BASTARD, JOHN18, JOHN17, JAMES16 RADCLYFFE, RICHARD DE15, JAMES DE14, WILLIAM DE13, RICHARD DE12, WILLIAM DE11, RICHARD DE10 RATCLYFFE, ESQ., OF RADCLIFFE TOWER, ROBERT DE9 RADCLYFFE, ADAM DE8, WILLIAM DE7 RADECLIVE, SHERIFF OF LANCASHIRE, HENRY DE6, NICHOLAS FITZGILBERT DE5, GILBERT DE4 TAILBOIS, 3RD BARON OF KENDAL, ÆLFTRED DE3 TAILLEBOIS, 2D BARON OF KENDAL, IVO DE2, REINFRED1) was born 29 October 1661 in "Chapel Hill", in the chapelry of Newchurch in Rossendale Forest (St Nicholas and St John's), Rawtenstall Borough, Whalley Parish, Lancashire, England138, and died 1 June 1721 in St Michaels, Talbot County, Maryland138. He married MARY CATERNE 13 May 1691 in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland138. She was born about 1662138, and died Aft. 1732 in Talbot County, Maryland138.

Notes for RICHARD RATCLIFFE, ESQUIRE:
[The writer's seventh great grandfather.]
Richard was born on 29 October 1661 in the second year of the reign of King CHARLES II, probably at the Ratcliffe family estate of "Chapel Hill", Lancashire. Chapel Hill was a nine-acre freehold tract of land located within Whalley Parish in the chapelry of Newchurch (St Nicholas with St John's) in Rossendale Forest, Borough (since 1891) of Rawtenstall, a subdivision of Blackburn Hundred, County Lancashire, England. Rawtenstal, which lies in the ancient Forest of Rossendale seventeen miles north of Manchester, is first known to have been mentioned in a survey of the Hundred of Blackburn in 1323. (Richard's birth date is given elsewhere as 10 October 1661.) At the time of his death on 1 June 1721, Richard was living in St Michaels, Talbot County, Maryland.
On 16 September 1682 (New Style) at Liverpool, Lancashire, Richard at age 21 boarded the ship "Submission", which was "bound for the Delaware River or elsewhere in Pennsylvania." However, because of a storm at sea, the ship's master, Captain James Settle, was not sure of the ship's whereabouts and unloaded the passengers and luggage on 10 November 1682 (N.S.) at Choptank, on the Choptank River in Caroline County, Maryland, apparently mistaking this river for the Delaware River. Richard paid four pounds and five shillings for his passage. The "Submission's" Ship's Log has been included in a published book, extracts from which follow:

"THE SAILING OF THE SHIP 'SUBMISSION' IN THE YEAR 1682, WITH A TRUE COPY OF THE VESSEL'S LOG.
"The log of the ship 'Submission,' of which the following is a copy, commences the 4th day of the week, 6th day of the 7th month (Sept 25th - Oct. 24th) and ends on the 7th day of the week the 21st day of the 8th month 1682. The vessel at this day being near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, which appears by the entry made on the 19th day of Oct., at which time the odor from the pines was noticed, 'supposing ourselves not to be within 80 leagues.' Phineas Pemberton in his record states that they arrived in the Choptank, Maryland, on the 2nd day of 9th month 1682, thus making the voyage in 58 days from port to port . . .
"Many of the passengers remained in Maryland for a considerable time (some of them married there), and then walked to Appoquinimink, the lowest section of New Castle County, about 40 miles from the place of landing, and 20 miles south of the established town of New Castle."[a]

At the beginning of the voyage that brought our Richard from England to America in 1682, Master James Settle made the following entry in his ship's log:[a]

"An acct. of our passage towards Pensylvania ----
"the passengers Subscribers, went Abord the vessel Submission from The Port of Liverpoole 5th 7/mon 1682. The master's name James Settle, the mate Samuel Rigg - Brian ffleetwood the Carpenter, Anthony Busshell the cooper, Ellijah Cobham, Thomas Bullock, Peter Travis, John Royle, Thomas Hatcley, servants. Henery Blivin, Michael Colon, apprentices. Heads ii.
"The Passengers names & ages & number - near as cold be well taken.
"free Passengers Passengers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Of Lancashire

"James Harrison 54 years Anna Harrison 58 years 2 - 0
"Agnes Harrison 80 -
"Richard Radclif 21 - 2 - 0" [I.e., 21 yrs, 2 mos., 0 days]

An entire list of passengers followed, and included additional passengers from Lancashire, and from Cheshire and Wales. The ship encountered the usual dangers facing a sailing ship on a two-month voyage across the Atlantic in the late 1600s. One entry stated:

"The wind much westerly about 12 in the night there arose A great storm that day were forced to take of the main top & to lay the ship by for about 10 hours the sea was exceedingly high ye waves ran as high as the main yards but we received little damage"[a]

The voyagers were not so fortunate on another day:

"The sea very Rough the wind high about 4 in the [----?] dyed Abraham the son of Randulph Blackshaw about 6 in the morning A great head sea broke over the ship & staved the boat & took the most part of it away, broke up the main hatches that were both nailed & corked & took them away that they were not seen where they went, broke the boat's mast & hyst that were lashed in the midship, broke the forre shet & took several things of the decks & several things that were in the boat it cast betwixt decks. At 9 in the morning the was put overboard, about 4 in the afternoon A great sea fell on our Rudder & broke it about 1 yard or something more from the head, was again pieced as well as it cold that night - not being discovered until 10 at night & was made pretty firm the next day."[a]

On 30 January 1683, after his arrival in America, Richard transferred his membership from the Rossendale Society of Friends in Lancashire, England, to the Third Haven Monthly Meeting of Friends in Talbot County, Maryland. In 1685, Richard's brother, James, arrived in Pennsylvania with his wife Mary and four of their children, Richard, Edward, Rebecca, and Rachel.
Richard married Mary Caterne (possibly the daughter of Edward Cattering, an early settler in Maryland) on 13 May 1691 in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland, in the Third Haven Monthly Meeting. (Elsewhere, this source gives the date of marriage as 24 May 1691.) Eight children of theirs were recorded at St Michael's Church (Church of England), at St Michaels, Talbot County. Richard entered the legal profession and became an attorney-at-law.
In 1706, Queen Anne's County, Maryland, was formed from part of Talbot County, and in 1710 Richard bought "Jerusalem," a four hundred acre tract of land in Queen Anne's County. On 1 November 1715, Richard sold 200 acres of "Jerusalem," and on 5 November 1715 he purchased the 170-acre property called "Jacob and John's Pasture" near St Michaels, Talbot County, Maryland.
By his Will, dated 8 January 1720, Richard bequeathed 100 acres of "Jerusalem" to his son Samuel, leaving the remaining 100 acres to his widow, Mary, and upon her death equally to their children. Richard's Will read:[b]

"IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. I, Richard Ratcliff, of Talbot Co., Md., being at this time in perfect health and sound mind and perfect memory and knowing the uncertainty of this life do therefore make and ordain this my last will and testament upon this eighth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand, seven hundred and twenty, revoking all other will or wills heretofore made by me and this my last will to stand authentic above them all.
"I give and bequeath my soul to the Almighty God that gave it, hoping that by and through Jesus Christ our Lord his only son to obtain remission for my sins and to find acceptance with Him, and my body buried in Decency at the discretion of my Executors hereinafter named.
"And for those worldly goods that it has pleased the Almighty God to bestow on me, I give and bequeath as follows:
"Item, I give and bequeath unto my son, James Ratcliff, one half of one hundred and seventy acres of land called by the name of Jacob and John's Pasture, next to the main road on the plantation where I now live, to him and the male heirs of his body forever.
"Item, I give and bequeath unto my son John Ratcliff, the other half of that tract of land called Jacob and John's Pasture, and next unto hog neck, to him and his male heirs forever, with one forty foot tobacco house.
"Item, I give and bequeath unto my son Samuel Ratcliff, part of a tract of land called by the name of Jerusalem, lying in that part of the land that I sold to Col. Richard Tilghman, 100 acres of land to him and his heirs forever.
"Item, I give to my well beloved wife, Mary Ratcliff, the plantation and the moveables, during her life, and after her decease the moveables to be equally divided amongst my three sons and two daughters, That is to say, John, William, Samuel, Alice and Mary Ratcliff.
"I also appoint my wife, Mary Ratcliff, James and John Ratcliff, to be wholly and solely executors of this my estate.
s/"Richard Ratcliff (SEAL)

"Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of us.
"And: Allen
"Edward E. F. Fish.
"Dominick Cowen

"Item, I give and bequeath unto my son, John Ratcliff, one steel whip saw."
------------------------------
a. Michael Tepper, ed., "The Sailing of the Ship 'Submission' in the Year 1682, With a True Copy of the Vessel's Log" in NEW WORLD IMMIGRANTS: A CONSOLIDATION OF SHIP PASSENGER LISTS & ASSOCIATED DATA FROM PERIODICAL LITERATURE, vol. 1 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988) pp. 235-238.
b. WILLS, Vol. 16, page 484, Hall of Records, Annapolis, Md.; as cited in Clarence Earl Ratcliff, B.S., M.A., RICHARD RATCLIFF OF LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND AND TALBOT COUNTY, MARYLAND AND HIS ANCESTORS AND DESCENDENTS, 1066-1988, (1963; eighth edition privately published by Clarence Earl Ratcliff, 1988), and published on the Internet at URL http://don.ratcliff.net/tree/rr.html.