The Mayflower Story
The Pilgrim story begins in Scrooby, a small Nottinghamshire village in England, some time around 1606. A group of English religious dissidents or “separatists”, who much later in the 19th century were penned as being "Pilgrims," formed their own church independent of the Church of England.
William Brewster, Richard Clifton, William Bradford and John Robinson felt that their Christian faith required a greater degree of independence than was possible in King James’s established Church, having been reformed by Henry VIII 100-years before him. The “Separatists” therefore decided to gather themselves into an off-shoot religious community under a new covenant. Such a move was considered treasonable at a time when church and state were united, thus the group were forced to leave the country lest they be imprisoned or even executed for their beliefs. After a disastrous exodus attempt at Boston, Lincolnshire, where they were discovered and imprisoned, a more successful attempt near Immingham, on the Humber River, led to the little company fleeing in 1609 to the more tolerant haven of Holland, modern day Netherlands.
After a short stay in Amsterdam, the Pilgrims were granted permission to settle in the cloth-manufacturing city of Leiden. There they lived under the wise and religious leadership of Pastor John Robinson for almost twelve years. However, life in a foreign land was not without its problems. The only work open to most of the unskilled immigrants was poorly paid and menial, meaning the group had the prospect of growing old in poverty. The twelve-year truce between Holland and Spain was becoming tenuous with rumblings of the resumption of hostilities getting stronger by the day.
The Brethren were fast becoming anxious of their position lest war soon commenced. Another troublesome fact to the Separatists was that their young folk were getting assimilated into the Dutch culture and religious beliefs, thus leaving their parents and their community profoundly disturbed.
By 1618 life was once again becoming intolerable for the older members of the Leiden group who imagined how it would soon be. The younger members were becoming separatists themselves and thought of as “Dutch” instead of English by the established Leiden community.
Circumstances therefore were forcing the congregation to once again consider moving to another country that this time spoke their native tongue. But where could they go? England, their old home, was still dangerous with King James still on the throne. South America perhaps, but the hot climate would "not well agree with our English bodies". On the other hand, the Pilgrims were dubious about joining the English colony of Virginia for fear of suffering religious persecution once again. However, Virginia it must be as no other was available!
A group of London investors, known as the "Merchant Adventurers", financed the forthcoming voyage and new settlement. They formed a joint-stock company with the colonists in which the merchants agreed to "adventure" (risk) their money, and the settlers to invest their personal labour, for a period of seven years. During that time, all land and livestock were to be owned in partnership; afterwards the company would be dissolved and the assets divided – so the plan went!
To help assure the colony's success the merchants recruited additional workers to join with the Leiden contingent. Although not part of either the Leiden or English congregation, the newcomers were equal partners in the new colonising venture.
For the voyage, and later use in the New World the Leiden group purchased a small ship, the Speedwell, which had many times voyaged to Holland from England. They financed the re-fitting of the ship to make her faster, so that she could keep pace with the much larger Mayflower. And in July 1620 the Leiden group sailed to Southampton, England, where they met their friends and relatives still living in England, who had arrived from London on the Mayflower. Also on board the Mayflower were the recruited workers whom the Leiden and English groups referred to later as the “Strangers”. By August 15th all Preparations and negotiations with the London merchants were completed and the two ships set sail for the New World.
Unfortunately, the Speedwell leaked badly, forcing the ships to turn back twice, the first harbouring at Dartmouth for extensive repairs and the latter calling at Plymouth. Much conjecture has been written that the captain and the crew of the Speedwell did not have much liking to the idea of the long and dangerous journey so late in the year. That may be true, however, a major contributing factor must have been that the Speedwell’s hull, having been re-rigged in Holland and given larger masts and sails, making her leak badly, did not fit well against all their nautical experience. In strong windy conditions and heavy seas the main mast would have transmitted undue stress on the hull timbers below, forcing them apart. Later, after the original sized masts and sails had been refitted to the ship, she sailed well and carried on for many years transporting cargo to and from Holland and France without further mishap.
In Plymouth, after further extensive repairs to the Speedwell it was decided that the small ship should be left behind and that the Mayflower would continue on her own. By this time some of the passengers had lost the will to journey across the treacherous waters of the Atlantic, especially as it was now autumn and winter would soon be upon them. Some of the families therefore went back to their English villages and others returned to Holland on the Speedwell. Robert Cushman who was a leading figure in Leiden, fell ill and led the most notable of these families. Many journeyed later to New England on some of the ships that followed the Mayflower in 1621 onwards.
The Brethren intended the Speedwell to be used in Virginia as the main sea transport for the community and would sail back-and-forth to London loaded with fish and animal skins. The profit made would be offset against their debt to the Merchant Adventurers. This was to be the first setback of many for the group.
In some of the historical documents there is much mention of a shallop, which is a small masted craft used for in-shore journeys It is reported that there was difficulty in stowing the craft ‘b’twixed‘ [between] decks and it had to be dismantled. The Mayflower herself had a longboat, which was stored on the main deck and used to row ashore when no quay or jetty was available. In Bradford’s journals, written at the time, he says that the shallop had to be cut-down to a degree and was used as a cot for sleeping purposes. Therefore it is arguable that the shallop and some of the other gear, such as fishing equipment, building materials and tools would have been retained by the Leiden group who were continuing the crossing, taking them as part payment for their share of the Speedwell. That ship may well have continued trading under the ownership of the returning Leiden group as they had sold all that they had and “must start again in Holland”.
On September 6th, 1620 the Mayflower sailed out of Plymouth Harbour with 102 passengers, including three pregnant women, two dogs and a crew of unknown number headed for the mouth of the Hudson River. The route that she took is not clear and the actual days at sea being approximately 66 days battling through heavy seas and hurricane force winds. Water and food provisions were calculated around being at sea only 30 to 40 days. Therefore it is highly unlikely that the Mayflower passengers and crew could have survived a further 26 days without a further supply of water. It should be noted that only one person died and no others were reported as being sick during all that time.
William Brewster, Richard Clifton, William Bradford and John Robinson felt that their Christian faith required a greater degree of independence than was possible in King James’s established Church, having been reformed by Henry VIII 100-years before him. The “Separatists” therefore decided to gather themselves into an off-shoot religious community under a new covenant. Such a move was considered treasonable at a time when church and state were united, thus the group were forced to leave the country lest they be imprisoned or even executed for their beliefs. After a disastrous exodus attempt at Boston, Lincolnshire, where they were discovered and imprisoned, a more successful attempt near Immingham, on the Humber River, led to the little company fleeing in 1609 to the more tolerant haven of Holland, modern day Netherlands.
After a short stay in Amsterdam, the Pilgrims were granted permission to settle in the cloth-manufacturing city of Leiden. There they lived under the wise and religious leadership of Pastor John Robinson for almost twelve years. However, life in a foreign land was not without its problems. The only work open to most of the unskilled immigrants was poorly paid and menial, meaning the group had the prospect of growing old in poverty. The twelve-year truce between Holland and Spain was becoming tenuous with rumblings of the resumption of hostilities getting stronger by the day.
The Brethren were fast becoming anxious of their position lest war soon commenced. Another troublesome fact to the Separatists was that their young folk were getting assimilated into the Dutch culture and religious beliefs, thus leaving their parents and their community profoundly disturbed.
By 1618 life was once again becoming intolerable for the older members of the Leiden group who imagined how it would soon be. The younger members were becoming separatists themselves and thought of as “Dutch” instead of English by the established Leiden community.
Circumstances therefore were forcing the congregation to once again consider moving to another country that this time spoke their native tongue. But where could they go? England, their old home, was still dangerous with King James still on the throne. South America perhaps, but the hot climate would "not well agree with our English bodies". On the other hand, the Pilgrims were dubious about joining the English colony of Virginia for fear of suffering religious persecution once again. However, Virginia it must be as no other was available!
A group of London investors, known as the "Merchant Adventurers", financed the forthcoming voyage and new settlement. They formed a joint-stock company with the colonists in which the merchants agreed to "adventure" (risk) their money, and the settlers to invest their personal labour, for a period of seven years. During that time, all land and livestock were to be owned in partnership; afterwards the company would be dissolved and the assets divided – so the plan went!
To help assure the colony's success the merchants recruited additional workers to join with the Leiden contingent. Although not part of either the Leiden or English congregation, the newcomers were equal partners in the new colonising venture.
For the voyage, and later use in the New World the Leiden group purchased a small ship, the Speedwell, which had many times voyaged to Holland from England. They financed the re-fitting of the ship to make her faster, so that she could keep pace with the much larger Mayflower. And in July 1620 the Leiden group sailed to Southampton, England, where they met their friends and relatives still living in England, who had arrived from London on the Mayflower. Also on board the Mayflower were the recruited workers whom the Leiden and English groups referred to later as the “Strangers”. By August 15th all Preparations and negotiations with the London merchants were completed and the two ships set sail for the New World.
Unfortunately, the Speedwell leaked badly, forcing the ships to turn back twice, the first harbouring at Dartmouth for extensive repairs and the latter calling at Plymouth. Much conjecture has been written that the captain and the crew of the Speedwell did not have much liking to the idea of the long and dangerous journey so late in the year. That may be true, however, a major contributing factor must have been that the Speedwell’s hull, having been re-rigged in Holland and given larger masts and sails, making her leak badly, did not fit well against all their nautical experience. In strong windy conditions and heavy seas the main mast would have transmitted undue stress on the hull timbers below, forcing them apart. Later, after the original sized masts and sails had been refitted to the ship, she sailed well and carried on for many years transporting cargo to and from Holland and France without further mishap.
In Plymouth, after further extensive repairs to the Speedwell it was decided that the small ship should be left behind and that the Mayflower would continue on her own. By this time some of the passengers had lost the will to journey across the treacherous waters of the Atlantic, especially as it was now autumn and winter would soon be upon them. Some of the families therefore went back to their English villages and others returned to Holland on the Speedwell. Robert Cushman who was a leading figure in Leiden, fell ill and led the most notable of these families. Many journeyed later to New England on some of the ships that followed the Mayflower in 1621 onwards.
The Brethren intended the Speedwell to be used in Virginia as the main sea transport for the community and would sail back-and-forth to London loaded with fish and animal skins. The profit made would be offset against their debt to the Merchant Adventurers. This was to be the first setback of many for the group.
In some of the historical documents there is much mention of a shallop, which is a small masted craft used for in-shore journeys It is reported that there was difficulty in stowing the craft ‘b’twixed‘ [between] decks and it had to be dismantled. The Mayflower herself had a longboat, which was stored on the main deck and used to row ashore when no quay or jetty was available. In Bradford’s journals, written at the time, he says that the shallop had to be cut-down to a degree and was used as a cot for sleeping purposes. Therefore it is arguable that the shallop and some of the other gear, such as fishing equipment, building materials and tools would have been retained by the Leiden group who were continuing the crossing, taking them as part payment for their share of the Speedwell. That ship may well have continued trading under the ownership of the returning Leiden group as they had sold all that they had and “must start again in Holland”.
On September 6th, 1620 the Mayflower sailed out of Plymouth Harbour with 102 passengers, including three pregnant women, two dogs and a crew of unknown number headed for the mouth of the Hudson River. The route that she took is not clear and the actual days at sea being approximately 66 days battling through heavy seas and hurricane force winds. Water and food provisions were calculated around being at sea only 30 to 40 days. Therefore it is highly unlikely that the Mayflower passengers and crew could have survived a further 26 days without a further supply of water. It should be noted that only one person died and no others were reported as being sick during all that time.
(c) Copyright Paul H. Simmons 2015