Back to the Stuarts calendar
A group of people, who didn’t like the way religion was organised in England, had fled to Holland. They were a bit worried
that in Holland they would lose their English culture and so a plan was made to sail to America.
A ship called Speedwell was bought and that took some of the people
from Holland to Southampton. They joined up with another ship called the Mayflower and set sail. Shortly after they left, Speedwell began to leak and realising
that they would speed well but downwards, they had to land at Dartmouth in Devon. They tried to stop the leaks and set off again, this time getting as far as
Plymouth. They knew they needed their 5-a-day on such a long voyage but they had the wrong sort of leaks, spelt differently too. They made the rather obvious
decision that the Speedwell was not going to get them across the Atlantic Ocean.
In the end about 120 passengers set out for America aboard the Mayflower. One passenger died on the crossing and a child was born while at sea.
After 65 days they sighted land and after a few false starts they landed. So began the second settlement on the mainland of the American continent by the
British.
But this is where history gets a bit interesting. The Mayflower
was built in a place called Harwich which is about 12 miles from where I live. Not only that but the Captain of the Mayflower, Captain Christopher Jones, lived
in Harwich. I popped out and took a picture of Captain Jones’ house, which is still standing today. It even has a plaque on the wall, well two actually as there
is another one above the door, which says it is his house. I enlarged one of them so you could read it.
However things get even better. I know this is all about history
but let’s just do some simple maths here. In 2020 it will be 400 years since the Mayflower sailed. The people of Harwich are pretty good at maths, well some of
them (haha) and they spotted this fact. There are going to be quite a few celebrations in Harwich and in other places around England inclduing Southampton,
Dartmouth and Plymouth.
Owlbut thinks it’s brilliant to celebrate the past and obviously says “Wowl”
Forward to 1625AD
