The Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship which transported the Pilgrims from Plymouth, England to "North Virginia" (which later became part of the United States of America) in 1620, leaving Plymouth on September 6 and dropping anchor near Cape Cod on November 11 (both dates according to the Old Style or the Julian Calendar). This voyage followed and was inspired by the successful establishment of the first permanent English settlement, Jamestown, by the London Company of Virginia in 1607. Ship The ship Mayflower was used as a cargo ship trading (often in wine) between England and other European countries, principally France but also Norway, Germany and Spain. At least between 1609 and 1622 it was mastered by Christopher Jones, who was Captain on the transatlantic voyage, and based in Rotherhithe. He was buried in the graveyard of St. Mary's Church, Rotherhithe following his death in March 1622, and it is likely that the ship was broken up for scrap lumber there in the following year. The Mayflower Barn just outside the Quaker village of Jordans in Buckinghamshire, England, purports to be constructed from these timbers. Details regarding the size and overall dimensions of the ship are unknown, but it has been estimated from its load weight and the usual size of 180-ton merchant ships in the period to be 90 – 110 feet in length and about 25 feet in width. (The size of a ship is measured, not by its own weight, but by burden (the amount the ship can carry). The term "ton," as used to measure the burden of a ship, derives from the word "tun," a large cask used for storing wine as it was being shipped.) Careful research went into designing a replica, the Mayflower II (launched on September 22, 1956), to make it as much like its namesake as possible. Voyage The Mayflower Memorial in Southampton. Enlarge The Mayflower Memorial in Southampton. Initially the plan was for the voyage to be made in two vessels (the other being the smaller Speedwell). The first voyage of the ships departed Southampton, England on August 5 1620, but the Speedwell developed a leak and had to be refitted at Dartmouth. On the second attempt, the ships reached the Atlantic, but once again were forced to return, to Plymouth because of the Speedwell's leak. After some reorganisation the final 66-day voyage was made by the Mayflower alone. With the crowding of 102 passengers plus crew, each family was allotted very little space for personal belongings. At one point, the ship's main beam cracked and had to be repaired using a large iron screw. The Mayflower landed at Renews on the southern shore of the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, where it picked up water and supplies from local fishing families before sailing on to Cape Cod. Their intended destination was a section of land in the area near the Hudson River. The ship, however, was forced off course by poor weather on the second half of the voyage. (The first half however was pleasant with nice weather.) As a result of the delay, the settlers did not arrive at the future site of Plymouth Colony until the onset of a harsh New England winter. They had failed to reach Virginia, where they had permission from the London Company to settle. To establish legal order outside of this jurisdiction, and to quell increasing strife within their ranks, the settlers wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact. On April 5, 1621 the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts on a return trip to England, arriving back on May 6, 1621. Passengers The passengers on the Mayflower were the earliest permanent settlers in New England, and so later many members of society took great interest in tracing their ancestry back to one of these. See list of passengers on the Mayflower for a complete accounting. See also list of Mayflower passengers who died in the winter of 1620 - 1621. See some of the descendants of these Mayflower Pilgrims in the Mayflower Descendants Chart. The Mayflower landed in an area that John Smith had mapped on called New England. The Mayflower had landed in a place called Plymouth.

Funny how the Mayflower Terminal ended up at Soton.

The Mayflower set off from Soton, thats why they have the Mayflower Park, Mayflower Terminal and Mayflower Theatre.

The Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrim Fathers really put Delfshaven on the map. The Pilgrims were English Calvinists who had turned their backs on the Church of England, and thus became outlaws in their own country. In 1609 a group of Pilgrims managed to escape to Holland, which, at the time, was the only country with complete freedom of religion. Here they could worship as they pleased. They went to Amsterdam first but a year later moved to Leiden where they stayed for eleven years. By 1620 their community counted some 200 members. But being foreigners they could not take up any trade they wanted. Dutch influence also seemed to be altering their English ways, and they disapproved of the easy manners of the Dutch people who might corrupt their children. They therefore decided to move to America where there was enough space to set up their own community and worship God in their own way. Determined to cross the wide waters to America they secured some money and purchased a small vessel, the Speedwell, and hired another, the Mayflower. The Speedwell proved unfit for the sea, and once in England they all had to re-embark on to the Mayflower. On 22 July 1620 the first small band of Pilgrims, a hundred and one in all, left from Delfshaven after having spent the night in an old barn next to the church. When they finally set foot on American soil it was winter, a bad time to start a settlement. Had it not been for some Native Americans who taught them trapping and hunting and how to grow corn, the Pilgrims might never have survived. This aid, however, came too late for half the colonists, who died during their first punishing winter but the following year, the survivors showed they had learned their lessons well. In the autumn of 1621 they produced their first successful harvest and, in gratitude, celebrated their first “Thanksgiving”. Thanksgiving became a national holiday in the United States. The Pilgrims may initially have been a small band of people but their influence was enormous. For more information about Delfshaven (a borough of Rotterdam) can be found at: http://www.delfshaven.info/izi/index.php

Interesting, Willem. I knew that they had gone to Holland for a time, but didn't know the town. Hmmmmmmmmm......corrupted by all that Dutch "high living" :?: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hi Liz, In the fifties (when I was a young boy), I was a Sea-Scout and our clubhouse was in Delfshaven. I learned a lot about that old part of the city and we all specialised to be a guide for Delfshaven. One of our famous admirals was born in Delfshaven. Piet Heyn defeated the Spanish Armada and brought home a full load of silver. A statue of him is also in Delfshaven.

:D :D :D http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/5213/heyn.htm