Only about a third of the Mayflower passengers were part of the religious refugees who fled England to live in the more tolerant Holland before sailing on the famous ship. Stephen Hopkins and his second wife, Elizabeth were among those who sailed for other reasons. His biography is amazing. He was born in 1581 in Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England. By 1604 he was living in Hursley, Hampshire and married to Mary. Their first child was daughter […]
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Myles Standish – Mayflower Military Leader
Myles Standish met the English religious refugees when they emigrated to the Netherlands. Their Pastor John Robinson befriended the young soldier when the group settled in Leiden, Holland. Standish enlisted in Queen Elizabeth’s army as a young boy and was stationed in Leiden when these Northern England Separatists settled there in 1609. In 1623 Pastor Robinson sent Plymouth Plantation Governor William Bradford a letter referring to Standish as, “whom I love.” Thirty years later Standish […]
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Edward Winslow – Pilgrim Diplomat
Edward Winslow, born in England on October 18,1595, was the first born of five sons in a fairly well-to-do family. His father, Edward, worked in salt production. In 1613, at age seventeen, Winslow began an apprenticeship in a Stationers Company in London. However, before completing the apprenticeship, he moved to Holland – in 1617. Known as a printer from London, he joined the community of religious refugees living in Leiden. There he helped William Brewster […]
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Plymouth Plantation William Bradford
Plymouth Plantation William Bradford had a rough start in life. He proves a person can experience multiple tragedies and challenges and yet grow up to live a long and productive life. Born in 1590 in Austerfield, a small farming community in Northern England, his father died when he was a toddler. His family then lived with his grandfather, until his grandfather died when he was six; his mother when he was seven. With no parents […]
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What’s in a Name?
What’s in a name? Does it really matter all that much what name or label we use to identify groups of people? The bard William Shakespeare famously had Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, say, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” If by that he meant the name of the flower isn’t what matters; but rather the fragrance of it, well then, sure what difference does it make? But what if the alternate […]
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