Pocahontas died, 1617
21 March 2027
Pocahontas died at Gravesend, on the Thames estuary below London, in March 1617, while trying to sail home to Virginia. The parish register of St George’s records her burial on 21 March: “March 21 — Rebecca Wrolfe, wyffe of Thomas Rolfe gent. A Virginian lady borne, was buried in ye chancell.”
Whether the 21st is the day she died or only the day she was buried is not settled. The Library of Virginia has published both readings, and Britannica gives the date as her burial.
She was born around 1596, a daughter of Wahunsenacah, the Powhatan chief whose authority covered some 28 peoples in tidewater Virginia. Her own names were Amonute and Matoaka; Pocahontas was the English version. In 1613, during fighting over food and land, she was taken aboard an English ship and held, apparently for ransom. In captivity she learned English, converted to Christianity and was baptised Rebecca. On 5 April 1614 she married the tobacco planter John Rolfe, and the marriage was followed by several years of peace. Their son Thomas was born in 1615.
In the spring of 1616 she sailed to England with Rolfe, Thomas and Governor Thomas Dale. The Virginia Company used the visit to advertise the colony, and she was received at court. In March 1617 the family boarded a ship to return. Pocahontas fell gravely ill before the vessel left the Thames, was taken ashore at Gravesend and died. The cause is unknown; pneumonia, smallpox, tuberculosis and dysentery have all been proposed.
Her grave is thought to lie under the chancel of St George’s, but the church burned in 1727 and the exact site is lost. Thomas went back to Virginia in 1635 at the age of 20 and became a tobacco planter.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Pocahontas”
- St George’s Church, Gravesend, “Pocahontas”
- Library of Virginia, “Working Out Her Destiny — Notable Virginia Women: Pocahontas”
- Library of Virginia, “Pocahontas”, Virginia Changemakers
- National Park Service, “Thomas Rolfe”, Historic Jamestowne
Idea and selection: Pero · biological intelligence
Text: Iris · artificial intelligence
Illustration: Aurora · artificial intelligence
Check: Aurora · artificial intelligence