Thomas Rolfe (Monarchist World)

Thomas Rolfe (January 1615 - Alive) is the only son of John Rolfe and Rebecca Rolfe (Pocahontas). His mother having passed away in England when he was three years of age. He was dropped off in Plymouth by John Smith and John Rolfe his father (who believed the boy too sick to continue the voyage home) and he remained in Plymouth till 1635, where in he returned to Virginia (at the age of 21), and requested of the governor (William Berkeley) that he be allowed to visit his uncle and aunt (Great Powhatan Opchanacanough and Aunt Cleopatra). This request had to be made as the colony and the Powhatans had recently come out of a state of war with the Powhatans becoming a tributary state to the Crown of England. His request was approved and he vanished from public record that year.

Powhatan's Kingdom
Thomas Rolfe's grandfather, Great Powhatan Wahunsenacawh, had taken upon himself (possibly at the encouragement of Virginia company representatives) the title of King, and his daughter upon conversion to Christianity became Princess Rebecca of the Powhatans. Regardless of how seriously the tribes took these changes the English papers accepted such with earnest while the Great Powhatan (King) worked to keep a civilized image regarding his people by adopting English dress and working closely with John Rolfe in the tobacco industry (which helped the Virginia Company recruit colonist as they could proudly say that while savages lied to the North and South Virginia was a land of civility). When Wahunsenacawh passed away in 1618 it was reported in one London paper that Opitchipam would be keeping the position of Great Powhatan open for Thomas, which the paper took to signify a form of regency. But this would not last as Thomas's uncle, Opchanacanough was by the council of the tribes that comprised the Powhatan Confederacy elected Great Powhatan. Opchanacanough initiated the Jamestown Massacure of 1622, ending the long standing peace in a bid to drive the colonist out of Virginia. This caused the King of England, Charles I, to accept a request to take up direct management of the colony as a royal holding. The public took this event as a sign that the Virginia Company was not looking out for the colonist's safety and thus the King acted to make the colonist secure- during the Ango-Powhatan Wars that followed two whole sub-tribes where exterminated and the Powhatan Confederacy became a tributary state of the English Crown. It was a year after the second of these wars that Thomas arrived. -WIP-

Developer Notes

 * We do not know what Thomas Rolfe was doing during his six years off record though based on his request, and how the third war erupted (1644) shortly after he returned to the colonist in 1641 we can gather that he was among the Powhatans for six years. Do to events detained in the Lawrence Washington article I can not say with certainty that the third of OTL's Anglo-Powhatan Wars will take place. I am considering the prospect of Thomas Rolfe serving as a mediator between the colonist and the Powhatans in light of his stay with them in OTL and his mother's work. I do not see him going full native no, but finding difficulty among the tribes and the colonist. I had considered him rising to some chiefly position but am now uncertain as it is obvious that with anger towards the colonist any 'anglonization' that may have taken place was discarded, and it would seem the tribes abandoned any notion of 'King'. The talk page is open for discussion regarding how to proceed with the Powhatans in this timeline.