Philip Ludwell III was — as far as we know — the first Orthodox convert in North America. Born in Surrey, Virginia, in 1716, he was the grandson of the first royal Governor of Carolina and the son of an influential Virginia Burgess.
Shortly after his marriage to Frances Grymes, Ludwell traveled to London where he was received into the Orthodox Church on January 11, 1738. Upon returning to his native state of Virginia, he immersed himself in civic affairs, at one point helping to commission a young George Washington as a colonel in the Virginia militia. Ludwell translated a number of Orthodox texts into English, and his translation of Peter Mogila’s Confession was blessed by the Holy Synod of Russia.
Ludwell’s wife died in 1753, and in 1760, he moved to London with his three daughters. They were chrismated into Holy Orthodoxy on Holy Wednesday, 1762. His health declined in 1766, preventing him from a return to Virginia. Ludwell died March 25, 1767, in communion with the Church and is buried in the crypt of the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow.
Ludwell’s daughter Lucy married an Orthodox Anglo-Greek by the name of John Paradise, who, among other accomplishments, helped teach Thomas Jefferson Greek. After John’s death, Lucy moved back to Virginia and lived in what became known as the Ludwell-Paradise House in Williamsburg.
This above portrait of Philip Ludwell III as a boy is the only known image of our fellowship’s namesake. It’s housed at Stratford Hall, which was the plantation of four generations of Virginia’s famous Lee Family and the birthplace of Robert E. Lee. So, why is this rare artifact kept there? Because the historic home was built by Thomas Lee, who married Philip’s sister Hannah Ludwell. Even Philip’s plantation Green Spring eventually came to be owned by the Lee Family. Virginia roots run deep.
