James Ravenscroft (died 1680) was a lawyer, merchant, and philanthropist in Chipping Barnet, in what is now north London.

He was the son of Thomas Ravenscroft.

Ravenscroft was a lawyer and merchant, dealing in lace, currants and glass.^[1]

In 1679, Ravenscroft, then of High Holborn in London, had the Ravenscroft Almshouses built for six "poore antient women".^[2][1][3]

Ravenscroft died on 28 January 1680.^[5] Barnet Recreation Ground was renamed Ravenscroft Gardens in his memory.^[4]

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James Ravenscroft was born in 1595, the son of Thomas Ravenscroft of Fould Park, Middlesex, and Bridget Powell. The Ravenscrofts were an ancient Flintshire family. (Thomas Ravenscroft (1563-1631) was a cousin of Lord Ellesmere’s first wife, a member of Parliament in 1621, and a Cursitor in the Chancery. (A. D. Thrush and J. P. Ferris, History of Parliament, House of Commons 1604-1629 (2010), vol. 6, pp. 15-16.)) James was admitted at Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1613, and received his B.A. degree in 1616. He was admitted to the Inner Temple on 29 May 1617, and he was called to the bar on 21 May 1626. James was married to Mary Peck; they resided in High Holborn, and had eleven children. In addition to being a lawyer, he had a mercantile business. In 1679, he founded Jesus Hospital in Wood Street, Chipping Barnet, which was an almshouse.(British Library MS. Harley 6379 (foundation and regulations for Jesus Hospital)). He had previously made a very generous donation to the rebuilding of the vestry of Barnet Church, where he was buried. He also established a trust for the maintenance of the parish church. James Ravenscroft died on 10 December 1680 at the age of 85. (W. Ravenscroft and R. B. Ravenscroft, The Family of Ravenscroft (1915), pp. 16, 44; J. Venn and J. A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses, part 1, vol. 3, p. 424 (1922); F. A. Inderwick, ed., Calendar of Inner Temple Records (1898), vol. 2, p. 155.) Two of his children were George Ravenscroft, see C. MacLeod, ‘Ravenscroft, George (1632/3-1683), merchant and glass manufacturer’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 46, pp. 128-129; and Edward Ravenscroft, see L. A. Knafla, ‘Ravenscroft, Edward (fl. 1659-1697), playwright’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 46, pp. 126-128. James Ravenscroft’s reports of cases date from 21 Jac. I (1623) to 9 Car. I (1633). This set of law reports has survived in only one known copy, British Library MS. Lansdowne 1094. This manuscript is signed by James Ravenscroft on page 135. It was owned by Edward Umfreville (d. 1786) in 1727, and purchased in 1758 by William Petty, marquess of Lansdowne (1737-1805). Lord Lansdowne’s extensive collection of manuscripts, including this one, was bought by the British Museum, now the British Library, in 1807. (H. Ellis and F. Douce, edd., Catalogue of the Lansdowne Manuscripts (1820), vol. 2, p. 275.)