In 1588 The Officials Of Lynn (England) Offered The
"MAY-FLOWER" (150 Tons) To Join The Fleet Against The Dreaded Spanish
Armada.
In 1657, Samuel Vassall, of London, complained that the
government had twice impressed his ship, MAY-FLOWER, which he had
"fitted out with sixty men, for the Straits." Rev.
Joseph Hunter,
author of "The Founders of New Plymouth," one of the most eminent
antiquarians in England, and an indefatigable student of Pilgrim history
among British archives, says: "I have not observed the name of MAY
FLOWER [in which style he always writes it] before the year 1583 . . .
But the name soon became exceedingly popular among those to whom
belonged the giving of the names to vessels in the merchant-service.
Before the close of that century [the sixteenth] we have a MAY-FLOWER of
Hastings; a MAY-FLOWER of Rie; a MAY-FLOWER of Newcastle: a MAY FLOWER
of Lynn; and a MAY-FLOWER Of Yarmouth: both in 1589. Also a MAY-FLOWER
of Hull, 1599; a MAY FLOWER of London of eighty tons burden, 1587, and
1594, Of which Richard Ireland was the master, and another MAY-FLOWER of
the same port, of ninety tons burthen, of which Robert White was the
master in 1594, and a third MAY-FLOWER of London, unless it is the same
vessel with one of the two just spoken of, only with a different master,
William Morecock. In 1587 there was a MAY-FLOWER Of Dover, of which
John Tooke was the master. In 1593 there was a MAY-FLOWER of Yarmouth
of 120 tons, of which William Musgrove was the master. In 1608 there
was a MAY-FLOWER of Dartmouth, of which Nicholas Waterdonne was the
master; and in 1609 a MAY-FLOWER of Middleburgh entered an English
port."
Later in the century we find a MAY-FLOWER of Ipswich, and another of
Newcastle in 1618; a MAY-FLOWER of York in 1621; a MAY-FLOWER of
Scarborough in 1630, Robert Hadock the master; a MAY-FLOWER of Sandwich
the same year, John Oliver the master; a MAY-FLOWER of Dover, 1633,
Walter Finnis, master, in which two sons of the Earl of Berkshire crossed
to Calais. "Which of these was the vessell which carried over the
precious [Pilgrim] freight cannot perhaps be told [apparently neither,
unless perhaps the MAY-FLOWER of Yarmouth of 1593, in which case her
tonnage is incorrectly given], but we learn from Mr. Sherley's letter to
Governor Bradford' that the same vessel was employed in 1629 in passing
between the two countries, a company of the church at Leyden, who had
joined in the first emigration, intending to pass in it to America; and
in the same author we find that the vessel arrived in the harbour of
Charlestown [N. E.] on July 1, 1630. There was a MAY-FLOWER which, in
1648, gained an unenviable notoriety as a slaver. But this was not the
MAY-FLOWER which had carried over the first settlers, it being a vessel
Of 350 tons, while the genuine MAY-FLOWER was of only 180 tons." Of the
first of her two known visits, after her voyage with the Pilgrim company
from Leyden, Goodwin says: "In August, 1629, the renowned MAY-FLOWER came
from England to Salem under Plymouth's old friend [William] Peirce, and
in her came thirty-five Leyden people, on their way to Plymouth." The
number has been in dispute, but the large cost of bringing them, over
L500, would suggest that their families must have also come, as has been
alleged, but for the following from Governor Bradford's Letter Book:
"These persons," he says, "were in all thirty-five, which came at this
time unto us from Leyden, whose charge out of Holland into England, and
in England till the ship was ready, and then their transportation hither,
came to a great deal of money, for besides victuals and other expenses,
they were all newly apparelled." Shirley, one of the Adventurers,
writing to Governor Bradford in 1629, says: "Here are now many of your
friends from Leyden coming over. With them also we have sent some
servants, or in the ship that went lately (I think called the TALBOT),
and this that these come in is the MAY-FLOWER." All that Higginson's
journal tells of her, as noted, is, that "she was of Yarmouth;" was
commanded by William Peirce, and carried provisions and passengers, but
the fact that she was under command of Captain Peirce of itself tells
much. On her next trip the MAY-FLOWER sailed from Southampton, in May,
1630, as part of Winthrop's fleet, and arrived at Charlestown July 1.
She was, on this voyage, under command of a new master (perhaps a Captain
Weatherby), Captain Peirce having, at this time, command of the ship
LYON, apparently in the service of Plymouth Colony. A vessel of this
name [MAY-FLOWER] was sailing between England and Boston in 1656. Young
says: "The MAY-FLOWER is a ship of renown in the history of the
colonization of New England. She was one of the five vessels which, in
1629, conveyed Higginson's company to Salem, and also one of the fleet
which, in 1630, brought over his colony to Massachusetts Bay."
October 6, 1652, "Thomas Webber, Mr. of the good shipp called the
MAYFLOWER of the burden of Two hundred Tuns or there abouts . . . .
Rideing at Ancor in the Harber of Boston," sold one-sixteenth of the ship
"for good & valluable Consideracons to Mr. John Pinchon of Springfield
Mrchant." The next day, October 7, 1652, the same "Thomas Webber, Mr, of
the good Shipp called the MAY FLOWER of Boston in New England now bound
for the barbadoes and thence to London," acknowledges an indebtedness to
Theodore Atkinson, a wealthy "hatter, felt-maker," and merchant of
Boston, and the same day (October 7, 1652), the said "Thomas Webber, Mr.
of the good shipp called the MAY FLOWER of the burthen of Two hundred
tuns or thereabouts," sold "unto Theodore Atkinson felt-maker
one-sixteenth part as well of said Shipp as of all & singular her masts
Sails Sail-yards Ancors Cables Ropes Cords Gunns Gunpowder Shott
Artillery Tackle Munition apparrell boate skiffe and furniture to the
same belonging." It is of course possible that this was the historic
ship, though, if so, reappearing twenty two years after her last known
voyage to New England.
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