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Winthrop Fleet

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Winthrop Fleet

The Winthrop Fleet was a group of eleven sailing ships under the leadership of John Winthrop that carried approximately 700 Puritans plus livestock and provisions from England to New England over the summer of 1630. (1)

Winthrop's Journal lists the eleven ships that were in his fleet: Arbella, The flagship, designated 'Admiral'; Talbot, Designated 'Vice Admiral'; Ambrose, Designated 'Rear Admiral'; Jewel, Designated a 'Captain'; Mayflower, A different ship than that of the Pilgrims; Whale; Success; Charles; William and Francis; Hopewell; Trial. Six other ships arrived at Massachusetts Bay in 1630, for a total of seventeen ships that year. The flow of Puritans to New England continued for another ten years, during a period known as the Great Migration.

Voyage

The initial group (Arbella and her three escorts) departed Yarmouth, Isle of Wight on April 8, the remainder following in two or three weeks. Seven hundred men, women, and children were distributed among the ships of the fleet. The voyage itself was rather uneventful, the direction and speed of the wind being the main topic in Winthrop's Journal, as it affected how much progress was made each day. There were a few days of severe weather, and every day was cold. The children were cold and bored, and there is a description of a game played with a rope that helped with both problems. The Winthrop Fleet was a well planned and financed expedition that formed the nucleus of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. However they were not the first settlers of the area. There was an existing settlement at Salem, started in about 1626, populated by a few hundred Puritans, most of whom had arrived in 1629, and who were governed by John Endicott. Winthrop superseded Endicott as Governor of the Colony upon his arrival in 1630.

Winthrop Fleet Passengers
These leading men both applied for the charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony and came to New England in Winthrop's Fleet.
Mr. John Winthrop, Governor, and three of his sons, including two minors and one adult son, Henry Winthrop
Sir Richard Saltonstall, three sons and two daughters.
Mr. Isaac Johnson Esq. and the Lady Arabella his wife and daughter of Thomas Clinton, 3rd Earl of Lincoln
Mr. Charles Fiennes the said Earl's son
Mr. Thomas Dudley, his wife, two sons, and four daughters
Mr. William Coddington, the first Governor of Rhode Island, and his wife
Mr. William Pynchon, and his wife and three daughters
Mr. William Vassall, for whom Vassalboro, Maine was named, and his wife
Mr. John Revell, merchant, who loaned the Plymouth Colony money, and who was chosen assistant to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Other passengers of historical significance include:
Allan Perley
Robert Seeley
Edward Convers
Simon Bradstreet and his wife Anne Bradstreet
Thomas Mayhew
Captain John Underhill
Robert Abell
Jehu Burr Great Great Grandfather of Aaron Burr
John Wilson, first minister of the Boston church
A Complete List of Passengers
This list is from the excellent book: The Winthrop Fleet of 1630: An Account of the Vessels, the Voyage, the Passengers and their English Homes from Original Authorities by Charles Edward Banks (2). It is believed by Banks to be a complete list, gathered from many sources.
Abbott, Daniel
Abell, Robert
Agar, William (Banks's listing conflates 3 people)
Alcock, George, ____
Alcock, Thomas
Aleworth, Francis
Andrew, Thomas
Archer, Samuel
Aspinwall, William, Elizabeth, Edward
Audley, (Odlin) John
Baker, John, Charity
Balston, William, Elizabeth
Barsham, William
Bartlett, Thomas
Bateman, William
Baxter, Gregory
Beamsley, William, Anne
Beecher, Thomas, Christian
Belcher, Edward, Christian, Edward Jr.
Bendall, Edward, Anne
Benham, John
Biggs, John, Mary
Black, John
Boggust, John
Boswell, John
Bosworth, Zaccheus
Bourne, Garret
Bowman, Nathaniel, Anna
Bradstreet, Simon, Anne
Brand, Benjamin
Bratcher, Augustine
Brease, ____
Brenton, William
Brett, Isabel
Bright, Henry
Browne, Abraham, Lydia
Browne, James
Browne, Richard, Elizabeth, George, Richard Jr.
Buckland, William
Bugby, Richard, Judith
Bulgar, Richard, ____
Burnell (Bunnell), William
Burr, Jehu, ____, Jehu Jr.
Burroughs, Robert
Cable, John
Cakebread, Thomas, Sarah
Chadwick, Charles, Elizabeth
Chambers, Anne or Annie
Chase, William
Chauner, Margery
Cheesebrough, William, Ann (Stevenson), Sarah, Peter, Samuel, Nathaniel
Child, Ephraim, Elizabeth
Church, Richard
Clarke, John
Clarke, William, Elizabeth
Clough (Cluffe), Richard
Cobbett, ____
Coddington, William, Mary
Colbron, William, Margery
Colby, Anthony, Susanna (Haddon)
Cole, John
Cole, Rice, Arrold
Cole, Robert
Cole, Samuel, Anne
Converse, Edward, Sarah, Phineas, John, Josiah, James
Cooke, Margaret
Cowlishaw, William, Anne
Crabb, John
Crafts, Griffin, Alice, Hannah
Cranwell, John
Cribb, Benjamin
Crugott, James
Dady, William, Dorothy
Deekes (Dix), Edward, Jane
Devereux, John
Diffy, Richard
Dillingham, John, Sarah (Caly), Sarah
Dixon, William
Doggett, John, ____, John Jr, Thomas
Downing, James
Dudley, Thomas, Dorothy (Yorke), Samuel, Anne, Patience, Sarah, Mercy, Thomas Jr.
Dutton, ____
Edmunds, John, Mary
Eggleston, Bigod
Ellis, Arthur
Elston, John
Fayerweather, Thomas
Feake, Robert
Fiennes, Charles
Finch, Abraham, Abraham Jr., Daniel, John
Firman, John
Firmin, Giles Jr., Martha (Doggett)
Fitzrandolph, Edward
Fox, Thomas
Foxwell, Richard, ____, John
Freeman, Samuel, Apphia (Quick), Henry
French, Thomas, Susan (Riddlesdale), Thomas Jr., Alice, Dorcas, Susan, Anne, John, Mary
Frothingham, William, Anne
Gage, John, French-13078|Amy]]
Gager, William
____, ____ (servant to Dr. Gager name unknown)
Garrett, Hugh
Garrett, Richard, ____, Hannah, ____
Gibson, Christopher, Mary
Gibson, Elizabeth
Glover, Ralph
Glover, John, Anne
Goldthwaite, Thomas, Elizabeth
Gosnall, Henry, Mary
Gosse (Goffe), John, Sarah
Goulworth, John
Gridley, Richard, Grace, Joseph, Abraham
Gyver, Bridget
Haddon, Garrett, Margaret
Hale, Robert, Joan
Hall, John, Joan (Dove)
Hammond, Philippa
Harding, Robert
Harris, Thomas, Elizabeth
Harwood, Henry, Elizabeth
Hawke, ____
Hawkins, John
Hawthorne, William
Hesselden, Franceis
Hoames, Margaret
Hoffe, ____
Hopwood, Edward
Horne, John
Hosier, Samuel
Howlett, Thomas
Hudson, William, Susan, Francis, William Jr.
Hulbirt, William
Hutchins, Richard
Hutchinson, George, Margaret
Hutchinson, Thomas
Ijons (Irons), Matthias, Anne
James, Edmond, Reana
James, Thomas, Elizabeth
James, William, Elizabeth
Jarvis, John
Johnson, Davy
Johnson, Francis, Joan
Johnson, Isaac, Arbella
Johnson, John, Margaret
Johnson, Richard, Alice
Jones, Bethia
Jones, Edward
Kidby, Lewis, ____, ____, Edward
Kingsbury, Henry, Margaret, Henry Jr.
Kingsbury, Thomas
Knapp, Nicholas, Elinor
Knapp, William, ____, John, Anne, Judith, Mary, James, John, William Jr.
Knower, George
Knower, Thomas
Lamb, Edward
Lamb, Thomas, Elizabeth, Thomas Jr., John, Samuel
Lamb, Roger
Lawson, Henry
Learned, William, Judith
Leatherland, William
Legge, John
Lockwood, Edmond, Elizabeth, ____
Lockwood, Robert
Lynton, Richard, ____, Anna, Lydia
Lynn, Henry, Sarah
Masters, John, Jane, Sarah, Lydia, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Abraham
Matson, Thomas, Amy (or Ann)
Mayhew, Thomas, ____, Thomas Jr.
Miller, ____
Millett, Richard
Mills, John, Susan, Joy, Mary, John Jr., Susanna, Recompense
Morey, Roger
Morley, Ralph, Catherine
Morris, Richard, Lenora
Morris, Thomas, Sarah
Morton, Mary
Moulton, Thomas, Jane
Mousall, Ralph, Alice
Munt, Thomas, Dorothy
Nash, Gregory, ____
Needham, Ann
Nicolls, ____
Nowell, Increase, Parnell (Gray) Parker
Odlin, John (See Audley)
Page, John, Phebe (Paine), John, Daniel
Painter, Thomas, Katherine
Palmer, Abraham, Grace
Palsford, Edward
Palsgrave, Richard, Anne, John, Anna, Mary, Sarah
Parke, Robert, Martha (Chaplin), Thomas, ____, ____, ____
Parker, Robert
Patrick, Captain Daniel, ____
Pelham, William
Pemberton, James, Alice
Pemberton, John, Elizabeth
Penn, James, Katherine
Penn, William
Penniman, James, Lydia
Perry, Isaac
Peters (Pettit), Anne
Phillips, Rev. George, ____, Samuel, Abigail, Elizabeth
Phillips, John, Joan
Phillips, John
Pickering, John, Esther, George, John Jr., Joan
Pickworth, John
Pierce, John, Parnell, Experience, Mercy, Samuel
Plaistow, Josiah
Pollard, Mrs. Anne
Pond, John
Pond, Robert, Mary
Porter, John, Margaret, ____, ____, ____, ____,
Pratt, Dr. Abraham, Jane
Pynchon, William, Agnes, John, Anne, Mary, Margaret
Rainsford, Edward, ____
Ratcliffe, Philip
Rawlins, Thomas, Mary, Thomas Jr., Nathaniel, John, Joan, Mary
Reade, Thomas, Priscilla
Reading, Joseph
Reading, Miles
Reeder, ____
Revell, John
Reynolds, Robert, Mary, Nathaniel, Ruth, Tabitha, Sarah
Richardson, Ezekiel, Susanna
Royse (Ryse), Robert, Elizabeth
Ruggles, John, Frances, ____
Ruggles, Jeffrey, Margaret
Sales, John, ____, Phebe
Saltonstall, Sir Richard, Richard Jr, Samuel, Robert, Rosamond, Grace
Sampson, Robert
Sanford, John
Saxton, Rev. Giles
Scott, Robert
Seaman, John
Seely, Robert
Sergeant, ____
Sharp, Robert
Sharpe, Thomas, ____, ____, Thomas
Shut, ____
Simpson, ____
Smead, ____, Judith, William
Smith, ____, ____, ____, ____
Smyth, Francis, ____
Squire, Thomas
Stearns, Isaac, Mary (Barker), John, Abigail, Elizabeth, Hannah, Mary
Stileman, Elias, Judith (Adams), Elias Jr.
Stoughton, Israel, Elizabeth
Stoughton, Thomas, ____
Sumner, William, Mary (West), William Jr.
Swaddon, Philip
Swanson, Anna
Talmadge, William, ____
Taylor, Gregory, Achsah
Taylor, John, ____, ____
Timewell, William
Tomlins, Edward
Turner, Nathaniel
Turner, Robert
Tyndal, Arthur
Underhill, John, Helen
Vassall, William, Anne, Judith, Frances, John, Anne
Wade, (Thomas)
Walker, Robert, Sarah
Wall, ____, ____
____, ____ (Servant of Mr. Wall)
Ward, Thomas
Warren, John, Margaret
Waterbury, William, Alice
Waters, John, Frances, Mary, ____, ____
Weaver, ____
Webb, Richard, Elizabeth
Weed, Jonas
Weillust, Joist
Weldon, Robert, Elizabeth
Weston, Francis, Margaret, Lucy
Wilbore, Samuel, Anne
Wilkinson, Prudence, Sarah, John, Elizabeth
Williams, Thomas
Williams, Thomas (alias Harris, may be same as preceding), Robert
Wilsby, ____
Wilson, John
Wilton, David
Wing, Elizabeth
Winthrop, John, Henry, Stephen, Samuel
____, ____ (x8) -- Winthrop had eight servants, names unknown
Woods, William
Woolrich, John, Sarah
Wormewood, ____
Wright, Richard, Margaret, Eleanor
Wright, Robert

Additional Research

  • The Winthrop Fleet of 1630, by The Winthrop Society, a hereditary organization of descendants of the Winthrop Fleet.
  • Winthrop, John (1853). The History of New England from 1630 to 1649. New York: Little, Brown and co.. Retrieved 2008-12-11. Second publication of the original text of John Winthrop's journal.
  • Bartlett, J. Gardner. "Leaders in the Winthrop Fleet, 1630", in N.E.H.G.R, Vol. 75 no. 3 (July 1921), p. 236. The list of names is transcribed from the document abstracted in Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 1, 1574-1660, pp. 108-112, #78. Note there is a discrepancy between Bartlett and the Calendar in the number of Pynchon's daughters, and a discrepancy between Bartlett and Richardson in the names of Saltonstall's sons.
  • Robert Charles Anderson's, Winthrop Fleet: Massachusetts Bay Company Immigrants to New England, 1629–1630, Boston: 2012, 833 pp.




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Despite the popularity of several of Charles Edward Banks's volumes—the passenger list above is repeated from his _Winthrop Fleet of 1630 . . ._ (1930)—genealogical authorities tend to approach them with caution. Robert Charles Anderson, for example, in comparing the passenger lists in Banks's _Planters of the Commonwealth_ (1930) with John Camden Hotten's _Original Lists of Persons of Quality . . ._ (1962, 1968) and Peter Wilson Coldham's _Complete Book of Emigrants: 1607–1660_ (1987) says this: "The importance of the arrangement of the original records leads to a discussion of the utility of the various published versions of these lists. The oldest of the three, Hotten, remains the most valuable iin this regard, since he retained the original sequence of the lists, and in general remained most faithful to the original. Banks, on the other hand, took vast liberties with the records, rearranging them to suit his judgments and adding extensive editorial notations in a manner not easy to distinguish from the records themselves. Coldham, for the 1635 lists, is less useful than Hotten, since he gathered all entries for a given ship and omitted the day-by-day grouping of arrivals. However, Coldham surveyed many sources not used by Hotten, suach as Admiralty cases and the various series of State Papers. For this reason, Coldham's collection is more broadly valuable for the whole period [1630s]. Until someone undertakes the preparation of a complete edition of passenger lists according to modern editorial standards, the best results will be obtained by a careful correlation of Hotten and Coldham, with a cautious dash of Banks" (Anderson, "Interpreting Passenger Lists," _Great Migration Newsletter_ 2[1991]:1[January–March]:1, 8, online at AmericanAncestors.org).

Of five Winthrop Fleet passenger listings with which I'm especially familiar, three contain errors; this does not bode well for the error ratio overall.

"CHEESEBROUGH, WILLIAM, ANN (STEVENSON), SARAH, PETER, SAMUEL, NATHANIEL" Anderson, a towering figure in colonial New England genealogy, mentions a Sarah Cheesborough, not as William’s daughter but as having been "admitted to Boston church as member #78, which would be during the winter of 1630–1 [BChR 13]; she may have been a relative of William Cheeseborough" (_The Winthrop Fleet: Massachusetts Bay Company Immigrants to New England, 1629–1630_ [Boston, 2012], 181–188, at 185). At no less than 16 years of age at that time, she was too old to have been William's daughter.

William Chesebrough married Ann Stevenson on 15 December 1620; their children were baptized (in the last case, born) as follows: i. Mary, bp. 2 May 1622. ii. Martha, bp. 18 Sept. 1623. iii. David (twin), bp. 9 Sept. 1624. iv. Jonathan (twin), bp. 9 Sept. 1624. v. Samuel, 1 April 1627. vi. Andronicus (twin), bp. 6 Feb. 1628/9. vii. ______ (stillborn) (twin) 6 Feb. 1628/9. viii. Nathaniel, bp. 25 Feb. 1629/30. ix. John, bp. 11 Nov. 1632. x. Jabez, bp. 3 May 1635. xi. Elisha, bp. 4 June 1637. xii. Joseph, b. 18 July 1640. No Sarah, no Peter. And where, in any case, would one fit them, particularly among the children baptized prior to mid-1630? The first three children died in 1622, 1623, and 1624, respectively; there is no further record of the fourth; and the sixth and seventh children died in 1628/9. That leaves only Samuel and Nathaniel as the children who accompanied their parents from England to Boston.

"HALL, JOHN, JOAN (DOVE)" No evidence has been found that identifies John Hall of the Winthrop Fleet as the laborer of Mile End who, at St. Dunstan’s Stepney 26 August 1618, married Joane Dove of Bethnal Green (all locations in East London). To the contrary, Charlestown church records clearly and convincingly establish that the former man’s wife was named Bethia(h): On 2 November 1632, "John, Bethiah Haule" were admitted to the First Church of Charlestown as founding members; the same volume records that "John Haul the son of John Haul and of Bethia his wife” was baptized in 1638, and that “Shebar Haul the son of John Haul and of Bethia his wiffe” was baptized in 1639/40 (_Records of the First Church in Charlestown, 1632-1789_, 7, 47, 48 [most online copies omit p. 7; use Google Books]). (John Hall had been admitted to the Boston church as member #19, which would have been in late August or early September 1630. On 14 August 1632 he and others were dismissed from the Boston church to participate in establishing the new church at Charlestown [_Records of the First Church in Boston: Volume I_, 12–13, 15–16].)

Near the end of his John Hall sketch, Anderson (_Winthrop Fleet_, 357) says this: "COMMENTS: Savage suggested that this John Hall came from Coventry in England, but there is no evidence for this proposed origin [Savage 2:333]. Banks offered St. Mary Whitechapel, London, as an origin for this man but cites only 'Banks Mss.,' so not much weight should be put on this claim without further exploration [Topo Dict 102]. . . . Both Savage and Pope muddled this John Hall and one or two others. Savage combined the records of this John Hall with those of a second man of the same name at Charlestown, whereas Pope distributed the records of two John Halls and one Samuel Hall across two entries under the name of John Hall [Savage 2:333–34; Pope 208]. Jacobus sorted out the confusion in a long note published in 1948 [Brainerd Anc 142–43]; the critical point is to watch for the name Bethia as wife of John. . . . BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: . . . In 1948 Donald Lines Jacobus published a brief account of the family of this immigrant with a line of descent through his son John; Jacobus appended an analytic note distinguishing this John Hall from another man of the same name who also resided at Charlestown [Brainerd Anc 141–43]."

The earliest record indicating that John and Bethiah Hall were married is that of their admission to the Charlestown church on 2 November 1632. This raises the distinct possibility that Hall had arrived in Boston a single man, in which case no wife should be mentioned as accompanying him from England. But in any case, Joan Dove is out of the question.

"JOHNSON, JOHN, MARGARET" While forenames Margaret and Margery were often used interchangeably, John Johnson’s second wife was recorded only as Margery (Roxbury Land and Church Records, 79 [church admission], 176 [burial]).

Robert Charles Anderson's _Winthrop Fleet: Massachusetts Bay Company Immigrants to New England, 1629–1630_ (Boston, 2012), 833 pp., is the definitive work on the Winthrop migration, its roots, structure, ships, and passengers. All other accounts—including Banks's _Winthrop Fleet in 1630_—pale in comparison.

posted by Gene Zubrinsky FASG
edited by Gene Zubrinsky FASG
Excellent commentary, Gene. Thank you for adding this.
posted by S (Hill) Willson

Categories: Winthrop Fleet