Richard Buck (chaplain)
| Richard Bucke | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1582 Wymondham, Leicestershire, England |
| Died | 1623 (age 41 or 42) Jamestown, Virginia |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Minister |
| Known for | Chaplain at first session of Virginia General Assembly |
Reverend Richard Bucke was a minister to the Colony of Virginia at Jamestown, Virginia from 1610 to 1624. He was chaplain of the first session of the Virginia General Assembly, which was composed of the House of Burgesses and the Virginia Governor's Council. This assembly met in the church at Jamestown on July 30, 1619, as the first elected assembly and law making body in colonial America.
Richard Bucke was born in 1582 in Wymondham, Leicestershire, England. Bucke was a graduate of Oxford University.
Bucke was recruited to serve as minister to the Colony of Virginia at Jamestown after the colony's first minister, Reverend Robert Hunt, died in 1608. Dr. Thomas Ravis, the Bishop of London, had recommended Bucke for the appointment.
Bucke, his wife and their two daughters sailed for Jamestown in 1609 with the colony's new governor, Sir Thomas Gates aboard the Sea Venture. The Sea Venture was wrecked in a storm off the coast of Bermuda and the passengers and crew did not arrive at Jamestown until May 23, 1610, nine months after the other ships of the Third Supply. While in Bermuda, Bucke baptized the newborn daughter of John Rolfe and his first wife, Sarah Hacker. The child, named Bermuda, died afterwards. Sarah died before Rolfe arrived in Virginia.
When Gates and the other colonists from the Sea Venture arrived at Jamestown, they found only 60 of the previous 500 colonists still alive after the harsh winter of 1609-1610 which became known as the "Starving Time." Buck led the colonists in a "zealous and sorrowful prayer," which commemorated those who were deceased. Reverend Bucke immediately gained the respect and affection of the colonists as his prayer reminded them of their esteemed first preacher, Robert Hunt.John Rolfe praised Bucke as a "veerie good preacher."
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