The Mayflower Discovery Trail:
The year 2020 marks the 400 year anniversary of the Mayflower’s journey from England to America. It was in 1620 that an intrepid group of dissenters set sail across the Atlantic on what was then an incredibly dangerous journey. Underlying their journey was a belief that the reformation of English churches by Henry VIII and the creation of the Protestant Church of England was half-hearted and had resulted in something far too close to the original Catholic church, albeit with rules that suited the King and allowed him to divorce his wife in order to remarry. More about the resulting Separatist movement will be covered in later features – this piece is simply to provide an outline of the events which lead to the Mayflower, the travellers who are sometimes known as ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ or ‘Mayflower Pilgrims’ and subsequent journeys to America.
The Mayflower By William Halsall (Pilgrim Hall Museum) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Commercial sponsorship from the Virginia Trading Company was set up to help raise the funds needed to hire ships. The Mayflower, built in Harwich and docked in Rotherhithe, was hired by the congregation still back in England, along with the Master and part owner Captain Christopher Jones and his crew of around 30 men. The Speedwell was bought by the Separatists who had escaped to Leiden – and both ships met up in Southampton, with the aim of travelling together. Sadly, The Speedwell leaked badly and before the pilgrims had travelled more than 300 miles from Land’s End, they were forced to return to Plymouth. Ultimately the Speedwell was declared unfit – and while some of the Pilgrims dropped out, others crowded onto The Mayflower.
The ship, with around 102 passengers, set sail on 16th September from Plymouth. Just under half of those on board were separatists, the remainder were skilled tradespeople who had been sent by the investors to help build the new colony.
With the onset of winter, it’s perhaps not surprising that the ship eventually landed, well off course, in Cape Harbour on 21st November 1620. There they wrote and signed what is known as the Mayflower Compact, an agreement on the way the colony would be run, with constitutional law and majority rule (although women neither signed the Compact nor had an entitlement to vote). Cape Harbour (now known as Provincetown, Cape Cod) proved to be particularly challenging and the colonists moved further around the coast to Plymouth Bay Massachusetts, where they settled.
Although over half of the crew and passengers died in the first winter, the next year was more successful – partly at least due to the support of the Wampanoag Indians who helped the colony learn how to hunt and grow crops. Their first successful harvest, in the Autumn of 1621 was marked with three days of prayers – and is known as the first Thanksgiving.
What seems remarkable to me is that the original separatists came from across England. Yet, there were enough of them to fill a sailing ship converged at Plymouth – and there were subsequent migrations in the 1630’s. These people were often educated and challenging – unwilling to accept the status quo. Their impact on the early history of America includes the establishment of what became Harvard University and the Mayflower Compact is regarded as a significant precursor of the American Constitution, the idea of laws made by the people that lies at the heart of democracy.
So, over the next months, we will be exploring more of the places in England where the original separatists came from and trying to understand the drivers behind their hearts and minds. And, we will share the journey with you so that, as the 400 year anniversary approaches you can travel around the Country yourself and see for yourself.
So far we have visited London and Harwich. It’s just the start of the story. Harwich, where the Mayflower is believed to have been built and where Captain Christopher Jones was born, has a shipbuilding heritage and even today is a port. Madeleine even had lunch in the Alma Pub, the same building where Christopher Jones’s first wife was born. London, specifically Rotherhithe, was Christopher Jones’s home. And, it’s where the Mayflower initially set sail – although it always planned to meet up with the Speedwell further round the coast. But, there are more connections to the Mayflower in Southwark London – the prison where some of the Mayflower Pilgrims were incarcerated is now a museum and open to the public. And, Southwark Cathedral is home to the John Harvard chapel – Harvard, one of the founders of the great American University, was a later separatist and traveller to the USA, though born and raised in Borough.
Meanwhile, if you’d like to find out more about Mayflower400 do check the website
Update: We’ve now visited Dartmouth – arguably the port from where the Mayflower set sail to the USA and certainly full of Mayflower heritage. Find out more about the Dartmouth Mayflower Heritage and we’ve been to Lincolnshire, to Boston, Gainsborough and Lincoln the area where most of the separatists originated.
Love my history! This is a super post. Jamestown is currently one of my favourite shows too.
I am currently loving Jamestown too! A lot of the Pilgrims came from Boston in Lincolnshire. There’s a lot of Mayflower and pilgrim references in Lincolnshire. It’s really interesting.
Yes, I was in Boston this week! What a shame I didn’t realise that’s where you were from – I’d have tried to meet up!
I really liked this post and am looking forward to the series as one of my relatives researched my families genealogy and says it goes back to the Mayflower.
This is really fascinating Fiona!!!
We spent about 3 weeks on the Mayflower in the US history course I took – because we were all Canadian, the prof covered it in depth. It’s a fascinating story and when you know the backgrounds of everyone involved, it makes even more sense of what happened in the New World. Everyone’s history is worth studying 🙂 I’m glad this project is highlighting that! Looking forward to reading more!
I find it interesting to hear how and why some people traveled great distances to live a new life. Looking forward to learning more.
Very enjoyable and informative post Fiona……loved to know about such precious piece of history through this post of yours.
Here we are nearly 400 years later in the US, still arguing daily about the constitution. And some of us in the US are even wondering about shipping ourselves back to England 🙂 Interesting post Fiona.
We are kind of hoping that some of you will come back to the UK for the 400 year anniversary – we should have one big party I think!
I have never heard about Mayflower. I have only read about Italian Amerigo Vespucci and Columbus. Thanks for this lovely history
I love learning about history, there is a museum here that deals with the Irish emigration to America, and the conditions on board are horrific
Looking forward to your series….like Orla and Rachael, I am also a huge Jamestown fan and learnt a little about the Mayflower and the pilgrims at primary school. By the time you and the TV have finished with me, I should be an expert!! Really interesting
Oh I’ll really enjoy this series, Fiona, you know I love learning about history and particularly when travelling, to put a sight into context. I’ve visited some of the sites in Massachusetts, but not thought about the relevant sites here in England.
I have an itinerary if you are curious Kavey;)
So, so fascinating! 🙂 I’m not very familiar with the history of the Mayflower, but this post indeed whetted my appetite to read up more on the subject.
And, oh, the ship replica is so very gorgeous!
Such a world-changing piece of history. It is amazing to think about the results of this excursion, for better and worse for all involved.
I know that spot in Plymouth well. It’s very evocative to think of them setting out from there.
What a fascinating story! I have never heard of the history of Mayflower so this was quite informative for me. The replica of the ship in your picture looks incredible.
It was less good news for the Native Americans. “We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock – Plymouth Rock landed on us”. Just so it’s not forgotten….
I am no expert on American History and I’m looking forward to finding out more. At the moment, the history books I’ve found here in the UK tell me that the original Mayflower site was where a native Indian settlement had been devastated by plague prior to the Mayflower arrival – and that the second site was successful only because the settlers worked with the native American Indians. I’d love more information so if you can point me in the right direction please do so.
Ah yes good old Henry the 8th! He was quite a King wasn’t he! Never knew about the Mayflower Pilgrams so this was a really good read 🙂 I’d like to visit Cape Harbour for sure.
Great post! I am really interested in American/European history and actually heading to the UK in May as well. Ok, it’s not that crazy since I am based in Germany – but I can’t wait!
Can’t imagine what a crossing was like on a small ship with over 100 people on board. You’ve gotten me interested. Will look forward to more.
I love American history but had forgotten a lot of the details of this chapter, so I enjoyed the refresher!
What an interesting article, loved learning about the history of the Mayflower’s epic journey. Thank you for sharing!
This was really interesting. You don’t hear a lot about the Mayflower in UK (or maybe it is just me!) but it’s obviously such a big part of history. I can’t imagine what it would have been like sailing on it.
What a really interesting read, thank you
What an interesting post on the 400th anniversary of Mayflower. Ship models always fascinate me, and this one is no exception. Look forward to reading more about the voyage.
Great post. I look forward to reading more of your Mayflower history. IAs a New Englander, I’ve been to Plymouth, MA many times. I’m always amazed at the size of the Mayflower. I’m in awe of the courage it must have taken to board that ship and sail to such an unknown world.
The Tilley family with Henry Samson from Henlow in Bedfordshire were some of the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower. Their details are recorded in the parish church of St Mary. The unconfirmed record suggest that one of their first meals on arriving was fish and chips after they named their landing place Cape Cod!!