From Maureen Selley, Secretary of Devon FHS - secretary@devonfhs.org.uk
Devon FHS is hosting a ‘Mayflower International Genealogical Conference’ in Plymouth on 29 August 2020.
In September 1620, the Mayflower finally left England from Plymouth, Devon, with most of those on board intending to settle in the New World. There were 102 adult passengers, including 37 members of the Separatist Leiden congregation, who would go on to be known as the Pilgrims, together with the non-separatist passengers. The passengers comprised 74 men and 28 women; 18 were listed as servants, 13 of whom were attached to Separatist families. The ship also carried 31 children, with one child being born during the voyage (aptly named Oceanus). The crew was led by Captain Christopher JONES, who was born in Harwich, but the total number of crew members is unknown. You can check the names and places of origin of the passengers here: https://www.mayflower400uk.org/education/who-were-the-pilgrims/.
But who did they leave behind? The Mayflower’s passengers and crew must have left families behind, perhaps even children whose descendants still live in England or Leiden? Are you descended from one of the Mayflower passengers’ families left behind in 17th century England?
I hope that some family history society members are interested in contributing to ‘The families they left behind’ project. If I get enough interest and responses, I plan to create a booklet containing that research, obviously attributed to individuals or societies. It will be available at the conference and for distribution afterwards. So much research has been done on the Mayflower descendants in the US, it would be great if we could say: ‘They came from here - and here’s my family connection!’