Question- Who is the earliest born English Colony immigrant

+13 votes
625 views
Anybody know who the earliest born English Colony immigrant would be?  I'm not asking who was the oldest, but who was born the farthest back in the 1500s that came over during the Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut Colony creation.

My oldest is Mary Canne (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Canne-1), and she is estimated to have been born around 1570.

I'm personally not interested the Jamestown/Virginia Colony because I'm mostly curious on the northern colonies, but if you have that name too, I'm sure someone would be interested in that.
in The Tree House by Eric McDaniel G2G6 Mach 4 (44.5k points)
edited by Eric McDaniel
This question triggered another for me, thinking of Roanoke and Jamestown.  Have any DNA analyses turned up evidence of English ancestry among Virginia-descended native Americans?  (Sorry for this digression from New England; there were earlier English immigrants elsewhere.)
Thank you, Michael, that article is enormously and exhaustively interesting.
In Virginia, pretty much all people classed as native Americans will have English ancestry.  Most have only a small fraction of indigenous ancestry.  Pure-blood native Americans can only be found in much more remote areas.
Did you intentionally exclude the Popham colony?  It was established in 1607 by the Plymouth company near the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine.  There were probably even earlier English settlers of the area overwintering to trade with the native Americans and maintain the outports supporting European fishermen, but these outport communities seem to have been considered part of the native American first nations rather than officially recognized as colonial possessions of European monarchs.
That was an unintentional omission for a simple reason:  I was ignorant of Popham!  My question was prompted by the stark difference between the voluminous documentation of Plymouth and the sparse documentation of earlier colonies -- Jamestown being the one of which I was aware.  I was curious whether DNA had shed light on the fates of families of the earlier, poorly documented, colonies. The foregoing discussion and web references were helpful.

8 Answers

+15 votes
 
Best answer
From Wikipedia:

James Chilton 1556-1620 was a Leiden Separatist passenger on the historic 1620 voyage of the ship Mayflower and was the oldest person on board. Upon arrival in the New World, he was a signer of the Mayflower Compact.

He died on December 8, 1620 while the Mayflower was anchored at Cape Cod. His wife died about a month after him, early in 1621.
by Frank Gill G2G Astronaut (2.6m points)
selected by Joe Cochoit

James Chilton deposed aged 63 in April 1619.

+10 votes

Joan (Arnold-161) Antrobus was called aged 65 when she immigrated in 1635. She was probably slightly older than this as her first child was baptized in 1587, and so likely born between 1564 and 1567.

by Joe Cochoit G2G6 Pilot (259k points)
+10 votes

Rev. Stephen Bachiler deposed he was aged 70 in 1631, so born about 1561. I think he was probably born a few years later as it would mean he entered college at age 20 (which is a little old for back then).

by Joe Cochoit G2G6 Pilot (259k points)
edited by Joe Cochoit
+9 votes

Robert Bartlett was baptized on 18 March 1567.

by Joe Cochoit G2G6 Pilot (259k points)
+10 votes

Bernard Capen said to have been aged 76 at his death in 1638, so born about 1562.

by Joe Cochoit G2G6 Pilot (259k points)
+9 votes

Thomas Josselyn was probably born between 1565 and 1570 as his first child was born in 1590.

Rachel Martin was born 15 March 1565.

Susanna Turtle was baptized on 14 April 1566.

Isabel (Wells) Tuttle was aged 70 when she immigrated in 1635, so born about 1565.

Martha (Whatlock) Scott was baptized 18 July 1568.

by Joe Cochoit G2G6 Pilot (259k points)
+8 votes
I have always been told and in some readings that my 10th. GF was born on the Mayflower in 1620 was the first English colony birth. Of course there are so much information and dis-information that this may not be true. His name, Peregrine White, son of William White. He was born in the Harbor after their landing.
by Barbara Jones G2G6 (8.6k points)
Hey cousin, yeah Peregrine was born aboard the Mayflower while in the harbor, as opposed to Oceanus, who was born during the passage across, with the birthplace reflected in his name.
+4 votes
Hi Eric, I'm a bit late in giving an answer, but I've only just stumbled on your question!  I have a possible candidate in Thomas Moore.  Like others before me (Fagg & Stiles) I believe Moore-6845 was the father of John Moore and I have parish records and DNA matches as evidence. I have a marriage of Thomas in 1569, so born about 1540 - 1550 and as a ship owner in 1574 at Poole harbour, Dorset, so born about 1534 to 1554.  For the details please see my website http://www.deweywiltshireroots.org.uk.

Regards, Terry
by Terry Dewey G2G1 (1.6k points)

Related questions

+11 votes
1 answer
+4 votes
1 answer
243 views asked Dec 5, 2016 in The Tree House by Mags Gaulden G2G6 Pilot (642k points)
+29 votes
1 answer
+8 votes
0 answers
+10 votes
4 answers
+3 votes
1 answer
120 views asked Nov 6, 2019 in The Tree House by Janine Barber G2G6 Pilot (231k points)
+3 votes
3 answers

WikiTree  ~  About  ~  Help Help  ~  Search Person Search  ~  Surname:

disclaimer - terms - copyright

...