Thomas Williams (abt. 1582 - 1621)

Born about 1582 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England [uncertain]

Died 1621 at about age 39 in Plymouth Colony

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Biography

Probable Origins

26 March 1616 Roger Wilson, a member of the Pilgrims' church in Leiden married Elizabeth Williams. The record says she was from Yarmouth, Norfolk, England and the groom was accompanied by her brother, Thomas Williams.^[1][2] We also know from the arrangement of Bradford's list of passengers that Thomas Williams, Mayflower passenger, was living in Leiden.^[3] Johnson concludes the two Thomas Williams are the same man, that he came from Yarmouth and had a sister Elizabeth.^[2]

Only one family was found that meet the necessary criteria, place, age, names. John Williams married Judith Short of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, 4 July 1580. They had children baptized at St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth:^[2]

1. Thomas Williams bp 12 Aug 1582 (Presumed Mayflower passenger)
2. Jone Williams bp 23 Aug 1584
3. Agnes Williams bp 6 Nov 1586
4. William Williams bp 2 Jun 1588
5. Dyonise Williams bp 31 Jan 1590/1
6. Elizabeth Williams bp 9 Jan 1591/2 (Presumed wife of Roger Wilson.)
7. John Williams bp 15 Sep 1594

Early Life

Thomas Williams "appears" to have been the Thomas Wyllyams baptized 12 Aug 1582 at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, son of John and Judyth (Short) Wyllyams.^[4] Thomas and his sister Elizabeth, baptized 9 Jan 1591/2 joined the Separatist Church congregation that was in Leiden, Holland, where Thomas witnessed, 11 Mar 1616, his sister's betrothal to member Roger Wilson.^[5]

Mayflower

"Moyses Fletcher, Thomas Williams, Digerie Preist, John Goodman, Edmond Margeson, Richard Britterige, Richard Clarke. All these dyed sone after their arivall, in the generall sicknes that befell. But Digerie Preist had his wife & children sent hither afterwards, she being Mr. Allertons sister. But the rest left no posteritie here."^[6]

Thomas Williams signed the Mayflower Compact 11 Nov 1620.^[7]

Death

He died in the general sickness the first winter of the colony, after Jan 1,^[6] and was buried on Cole's Hill.

Sources

1. ↑ Heritage Leiden and environs in Leiden (Netherlands), Church records marriages Schepenhuwelijken (1592-1795), Part: 198, Period: 1611-1633, Leiden, archive 1004, inventory number 198, March 26, 1616, Trouwen Gerecht B. juli 1611 - april 1633., folio B - 118v open archive
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Johnson, Caleb H. "The Probably English Origin of Mayflower Passenger Thomas Williams" The Mayflower Quarterly 75:290 Sep 2009
3. ↑ Johnson, Caleb H. "New Light on William Bradford's Passenger List of the Mayflower," The American Genealogist 80:94-99 (april 2005)
4. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N1MD-6L4 : 12 February 2018, Thomas Wyllyams, ); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,526,327.
5. ↑ Johnson, Caleb H. The Mayflower and Her Passengers. (Caleb H. Johnson 2006) p. 250
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Bradford, William. Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation' From the Original Manuscript. With a Report of the Proceedings Incident to the Return of the Manuscript to Massachusetts Project Gutenberg ebook
7. ↑ Morton, Nathaniel. New England's memorial. (Boston: Congregational board of publication, 1855) Originally published 1669.p. 26 Note: The original compact is gone. Morton furnished the earliest known list 1669 facsimile

• Anderson, Robert Charles. The Pilgrim Migration: Immigrants to Plymouth Colony 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004) p. 506 Available free at American Ancestors.
• Caleb Johnson's Mayflower History
• Mayflower quarterly 75:290 (2009) titled "The Probable English Origin of Mayflower Passenger Thomas Williams."
• Source: Sisters Marriage: "Netherlands, Archival Indexes, Vital Records," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLR1-DQKW : 13 October 2017), Rogier Wilsom and Elysabeth Willems, Marriage 26 Mar 1616, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Nederland; from database, openarchives (https://www.openarch.nl : 2016); citing Archiefnaam: Schepenhuwelijken (1592-1795), Deel: 198, Periode: 1611-1633, archive 1004, inventory number 198, record number , folio B - 118v; Archiefnaam: Schepenhuwelijken (1592-1795), Deel: 198, Periode: 1611-1633; Erfgoed Leiden.
• Bradford, William, 1590-1657. Of Plimoth Plantation: manuscript, 1630-1650. State Library of Massachusetts "List of Mayflower Passengers." In Bradford's Hand.
• Mayflower Society - Passengers Who Died With No Known Descent

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