Also see: The ships Anne and Little James
In the spring of 1623 about 90 passengers embarked in two small ships sailing from London to Plymouth Colony for the purpose of providing settlers and other colony support. These were the 140-ton supply ship Anne and the smaller, new 44-ton pinnace Little James which had been outfitted for military service. They were financed by Thomas Weston's investment group, the Merchant Adventurers, also those who financed Mayflower in 1620 and Fortune in 1621. After a three-month voyage, Anne arrived in Plymouth, per Bradford, on July 10, 1623 and Little James a week or ten days later. After this voyage Anne was to return to its regular cargo shipping work and Little James was to remain in the colony for fishing, cargo and military service. Anne's master was William Peirce and Little James had two young men in charge – Master John Bridges, master mariner, and a novice captain, Emmanuel Altham, a Merchant Adventurer. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Of the 90-odd passengers, there were about 60 men, women and children total in both ships, many being former English Separatist residents of Leiden, Holland, and with about 30 others being part of an independent emigrant group led by John Oldham. This later group had been promised a separate living situation in Plymouth apart from the main settlement. [5]
There are no separate passenger lists for each ship, as those that sailed in these ships were grouped together in records under Anne when the official land division was made in 1623 with assignment of acreage lots by name. But author Charles Banks did identify at least four men, three with families, who were passengers on Little James. These totaled about 14 persons. Banks also states that it is possible Little James had more passengers, but due to size it could not accommodate many. Additionally, eight wives accompanied their husbands on these two ships, along with twelve children most brought over by their parents of at least two of whom were Patience and Fear Brewster, daughters of William and Mary Brewster, who had arrived on the Mayflower. [6]
In the contingent on board Anne were about 15 persons associated in some way with Mayflower passengers who had come over in 1620. Some joined husbands or future husbands: Hester Cooke, Bridget Fuller, Alice (Carpenter) Southworth who married William Bradford, Elizabeth Warren and Barbara Standish. Another had been the spouse of a now-deceased Pilgrim – Sarah Priest Cuthbertson. There were other passengers who married Mayflower passengers after arrival: Fear Brewster/Isaac Allerton, Mary Becket/George Soule, Christian Penn/Francis Eaton & Francis Billington, Experience Mitchell/Jane Cooke, Nicholas Snow/Constance Hopkins, Sarah Warren/John Cooke, Robert Bartlett/Mary Warren. And there were Mary and Sarah Priest, the daughters of the deceased Pilgrim Degory Priest, who had arrived from Leiden and later married Phineas Pratt and John Coombs respectively.
Bradford states that some of the new settlers were useful persons and became “good members to the body”, some being the wives and children of men there already, some since the Fortune came over in 1621. But Bradford also related about those unfit for such a hardship settlement: “And some were so bad, as they were faine to be at charge to send them home again next year.” And the state of the passengers is relayed in an apologetic letter sent by Robert Cushman, former Leiden agent in London, to Bradford: “… It greeveth me to see so weake a company sent you, and yet had I not been here they had been weaker…Shuch and shuch came without my constente: but the importunitie of their freinds got promise of our Treasurer in my absence.” [7]
From these statements it can be learned the reason that so many of the first arrivals disappeared from Plymouth after a few years of experiencing that hardship existence. Many of the emigrants on the Anne and Little James would eventually be sent back to England as unfit for the task of living and working in a harsh colonial environment. [7] [8]
John Carver was one of the Pilgrims who made the Mayflower voyage in 1620 which resulted in the creation of Plymouth Colony in America. He is credited with writing the Mayflower Compact and was its first signer, and was also the first governor of Plymouth Colony.
Francis Cooke was a Leiden Separatist, who went to America in 1620 on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower, which arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts. He was a founding member of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and a signer of the Mayflower Compact.
Degory Priest was a member of the Leiden contingent on the historic 1620 voyage of the ship Mayflower. He was a hat maker from London who married Sarah, sister of Pilgrim Isaac Allerton in Leiden. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact in November 1620 and died less than two months later.
Thomas Rogers was a Leiden Separatist who traveled in 1620 with his eldest son Joseph as passengers on the historic voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower.
James Chilton was a Leiden Separatist passenger on the historic 1620 voyage of the ship Mayflower and was the oldest person on board. Upon arrival in the New World, he was a signer of the Mayflower Compact. James Chilton was one of the earliest to die that winter, perishing within the following month.
Thomas Tinker and his family, comprising his wife and son, came in 1620 as English Separatists from Holland on the historic voyage of the Pilgrim Ship Mayflower. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact but he and his family all perished in the winter of 1620/1621, described by Bradford as having died in "the first sickness."
Richard Warren was one of the passengers on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower and a signer of the Mayflower Compact.
George Soule was a colonist who was one of the indentured servants on the Mayflower and helped establish Plymouth Colony in 1620. He was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact.
Humility Cooper, of Leiden, Holland, traveled in 1620 on the voyage of the ship Mayflower as a one-year-old female child in the company of the Edward Tilley family. Although Edward Tilley and his wife died the first winter in the Plymouth Colony, Cooper survived to live her young life in Plymouth Colony, returning to England possibly in her teen years. Her fate in England is unknown.
Samuel Fuller was a passenger on the historic 1620 voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower and became a respected church deacon and the physician for Plymouth Colony.
Henry Samson In 1620 Henry Samson travelled as a member of the Edward Tilley family on the historic voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. The Tilleys died in the first winter but Henry Samson survived to live a long, fulfilling life in Plymouth Colony.
Edward Tilley traveled in 1620 on the historic voyage of the ship Mayflower as a Separatist member of the Leiden, Holland contingent. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact, and died with his wife in the first Pilgrim winter in the New World.
William White was a passenger on the Mayflower. Accompanied by his wife Susanna, son Resolved and two servants, and joined by a son, Peregrine, on the way, he traveled in 1620 on the historic voyage. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact and perished early in the history of Plymouth Colony.
Resolved White was a passenger on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. In 1620, he accompanied his parents, Pilgrims William and Susanna White, on the journey. He married Judith Vassall, daughter of William Vassall, a founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Later in life White became a notable person of Plymouth Colony.
William Mullins and his family traveled as passengers on the historic 1620 voyage to America on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact. Mullins perished in the pilgrims' first winter in the New World, with his wife and son dying soon after.
William Bassett was an English artisan, a migrant to North America.
John Winslow (1597–1674) was one of several Winslow brothers who came to the Plymouth Colony in its earliest years. His brothers Edward and Gilbert were passengers on the Mayflower in 1620. John Winslow was a passenger on the Fortune in 1621, and two other brothers, Kenelm and Josiah, also settled in New England, arriving before 1632. The Winslow family were involved in all aspects of the Plymouth Colony, producing in the 17th century several governors and making their mark in New England history in both government and business.
In 1623 the ships Anne and Little James were the third and fourth ships financed by the London-based Merchant Adventurers to come out together in support of Plymouth Colony, as were Mayflower in 1620 and Fortune in 1621. Anne carried mostly passengers, and the much smaller Little James carried primarily cargo, albeit with a few passengers. After a stormy three-month voyage from London, Anne arrived at New Plymouth in early July 1623, with Little James a week or so later.
The Mayflower Compact was an iconic document in the history of America, written and signed aboard the Mayflower on November 11, 1620, while anchored in Provincetown Harbor in Massachusetts. The Compact was originally drafted as an instrument to maintain unity and discipline in Plymouth Colony, but it has become one of the most historic documents in American history. It was published in London in Mourt's Relation in 1622, and the authors had added a preamble to clarify its meaning: "it was thought good there should be an association and agreement, that we should combine together in one body, and to submit to such government and governors as we should by common consent agree to make and choose."