Rebecca Rawson

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An engraving of Rebecca Rawson found in the Rawson Family Memorial

Born: May 23, 1656, Massachusetts
Married: July 1, 1679
Died: between June 7-June 9, 1692, near Port Royal, Jamaica

The ninth child of Edward Rawson, Rebecca was considered "one of the most beautiful, polite and accomplished young ladies in Boston". She was also the heroine of the 1849 book Leaves from Margaret Smith's Journal, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay (by John G. Whittier).

She married Thomas Rumsey who posed as Sir Thomas Hale Jr. (the son of Lord Chief Justice Hale of England). After deceiving Rebecca into marriage, the two left for England. He abandoned her, took all of her possessions, left her penniless -and as she soon found out - with child.

After raising her child in England for thirteen years, she moved back to Boston at her father's request. The trip would require her to sail to Jamaica then board another ship to Boston. A powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunami destroyed the ship and claimed the lives of the crew and passengers just off the Jamaican coast; Rebecca Rawson died, aged 36, just off Port Royal, Jamaica.