Lt. Matthew Scrivener (bap. 1580/1 – d. 1609) was an English colonist in Virginia. He served briefly as acting governor of Jamestown, and was succeeded by Captain John Smith. He died by drowning in the James River.
Scrivener was an ally of Councilor John Smith. When John Ratcliffe was "ousted" (or pressured to leave) by Smith and Scrivener in July, 1608, Scrivener acted as a president of the Governor's Council until September, 1608.[2][9] Smith was elected president ("chief counselor") in September, Scrivener stayed as a Councilor and secretary.[10][11] When John Smith was absent on river explorations, Scrivener acted as president.[citation needed]
Death
In January, 1609/10 (O.S./N.S.), Scrivener and ten men (including at least four Council members) took a skiff to hunt along the James River.[12] Near Hog Island a storm capsized the boat, dumping all into the cold river. As most English could not swim at the time, Scrivener and eight other colonists drowned, half of them members of the governing Council, including Bartholomew Gosnold's brother, Anthony.
^Jones, Howard Mumford. “The Literature of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century.” Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. 19, no. 2, 1946, pp. 1–47. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/25058511. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.
^ abcGookin, Warner F. “The First Leaders at Jamestown.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 58, no. 2, 1950, pp. 181–93. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4245691. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.
^“Mathew Scrivener” in Suffolk, England, Extracted Church of England Parish Records, 1538-1850, ancestry.com, accessed 18 July 2022 (subscription required)
