Winthrop Fleet

Arrival of the Winthrop Colony, by William F. Halsall

The Winthrop Fleet of 1630 (an early part of the Great Migration) was the largest fleet ever assembled to carry Englishmen overseas to a new homeland. It was a well planned and financed expedition comprising eleven ships that carried 700 immigrants from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The group, led by Governor John Winthrop, sailed from April to July of 1630. The fleet landed at Salem. Of the 700 on board, 200 died during the voyage, and 100 returned to England soon after arrival. Some of the 400 remaining settlers stayed in Salem, but many moved on to Boston, Watertown, or other settlements.

• See also Immigrant Ships To America/First Families/Winthrop Fleet
• Winthrop Fleet Passenger List - 700 passengers

The Winthrop Fleet was a group of 11 ships led by John Winthrop which carried about 1,000 Puritans plus livestock and provisions from England to New England over the summer of 1630, during the period of the Great Migration. Most notable group of Immigrant Ships of New England.

Motivation

The Puritan population in England had been growing for several years leading up to this time. The Puritans disagreed with the practices of the Church of England, whose rituals they viewed as superstitions. An associated political movement attempted over many years to modify religious practice in England to conform to their views. King James I wished to suppress this growing rebellious movement. Nevertheless, the Puritans eventually gained a majority in Parliament. James' son Charles came into direct conflict with Parliament, and viewed them as a threat to his authority. He temporarily dissolved parliament in 1626, and again the next year, before dissolving parliament permanently in March 1629. The King's imposition of Personal Rule gave many Puritans a sense of hopelessness regarding their future in that country, and many prepared to leave it permanently for life in New England.

Motivated by these political events, a wealthy group of leaders obtained a Royal Charter in March 1629 for a colony at Massachusetts Bay.

A fleet of five ships had departed a month previously for New England that included approximately 300 colonists, led by Francis Higginson. However, the colony leaders and the bulk of the colonists remained in England for the time being, to plan more thoroughly for the success of the new colony. Later that year, the group who remained in England elected John Winthrop to be Governor of the Fleet and the Colony. Over the ensuing winter, the leaders recruited a large group of Puritan families, representing all manner of skilled labor, to ensure a robust colony.

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. Many were sick during the voyage.

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.

The flow of Puritans to New England continued for another ten years, during a period known as the Great Migration.

In the early spring of 1630, families began preparations to leave England to go with the Massachusetts Bay Company The voyage was to be under the leadership of John Winthrop. They were to sail on the flagship ARBELLA, captained by one Peter Milborne and manned by fifty-two crewmen. The names of the other'ships in theWinthrop Fleet were: the JEWEL, the TALBOT, the CHARLES, the MAYFLOWER, the WILLIAM AND FRANCIS, the HOPEWELL, the WHALE, the SUCCESS, the TRAIL,and the AMBROSE. The ships were ready in the harbor and loaded with hogsheads of beer, water, "syder," vinegar, dried meat (16 hogsheads), and beef tongues. Some of the ships carried furniture, farm implements and livestock. These were the ships that were to carry seven hundred or so immigrants to the New World, to a new dream, and to the religious freedom that these Puritans had not experienced in their homeland. Also, there was the promise of one hundred acres of free land to every man that signed on with the Massachusetts Bay Company.

Their departure was scheduled for Easter Monday, March 29, 1630, on the morning tide... [something about some repair work, perhaps causing a delay]. On Tuesday, April 6th, Matthew Cradock, the late Governor of Massachusetts Bay Company, arrived from London to take his official leave of the party. When this formality was over, he was duly saluted as he went over the side. Then the ships, led by the ARBELLA, weighed anchor and leisurely sailed down the Solent (a strait of the English Channel), and came to anchorage before the castle at Yarmouth, on the west end of the Isle of Wight. It was here that the Rev John Cotton, Vicar of Boston in Lincolnshire, came down to give his blessing and approval of the undertaking. He preached to them from the book of II Samuel, verse 7:10: Shortly after thisfarewell sermon, the flotilla was finally under way.

Winthrop writes in his journal that the weather was calm for the first few days, and the passengers seemed to delight in what was a first for most of those on board. But the sea was soon to change, and many took to their bunks. So sick were many. Land was sighted on Friday, June 11, 1630, after 84 days of turbulent seas. They dropped anchor the following day near Salem. The passengers were all dressed in their finest. The ARBELLA fired two shots; Rev George Phillips gave thanks unto the Lord for their safe journey. Many of these passengers were sick from scurvy, caused by their unwholesome diet while at sea. But along with the warm winds of summer, many were soon to have their full strength restored.

Two years prior to this voyage, the Massachusetts Bay Company had sent John Endecott and a small company to prepare a place for the main arrival. Mr. Endecott said that several of his people were ill, and tired of eating mussels, berries and Indian corn. He also made it clear that many were anxious to return to England when the 1630 fleet departed.

Ships

Winthrop's journal lists the eleven ships that were in his fleet:

• Arabella: The flagship, designated 'Admiral' in the consortship; named for Lady Arabella, wife of Isaac Johnson (see below).
• Talbot: Designated 'Vice Admiral'. Henry Winthrop, John Winthrop's son and first husband of Elizabeth Fones, sailed on this ship.
• Ambrose: Designated 'Rear Admiral'.
• Jewel: Designated a 'Captain'.
• Mayflower (a different ship to the Mayflower 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.

• Only the fleet leader ships: Arbella, Talbot, Ambrose, Jewel, plus Mayflower, Whale, and Success carried passengers. The others were used to transport freight and livestock.

Notable passengers

See also: Winthrop Society

See also Winthrop Fleet Passenger List for complete list of passengers.

Nine 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 (1576-1653), his wife, two sons, and four daughters - 3rd, 7th, 11th, 14th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Mr. William Coddington (1601-1678), the 1st Colonial 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
• Captain Thomas Wiggin, the first Governor of New Hampshire

Other passengers of historical significance include (in alphabetical order):

• Robert Abell
• Stephen Bachiler Founder of Hampton, New Hampshire.
• Simon Bradstreet and his wife Anne Bradstreet
• Jehu Burr Great Great Grandfather of Aaron Burr
• Edward Convers
• Thomas Mayhew
• Allan Perley
• Robert Seeley
• Isaac Stearns (1603-1671)
• Captain John Underhill
• John Wilson, first minister of the Boston church
• Captain Edward Johnson (1598–1672) was a leading figure in colonial Massachusetts, and is one of the founders of Woburn, Massachusetts.

A complete list of passengers is maintained by The Winthrop Society, a hereditary organization of descendants of the Winthrop Fleet and later Great Migration ships that arrived before 1634.

Winthrop's journal

Anno domini 1630: march 29: mundaye.
Easter mundaye. Rydinge at the Cowes near the Ile of wight in the Arbella...
— opening line of John Winthrop's famous journal of the vessels:
Arbella Ambrose Jewel Talbot	Charles Mayflower William and Francis Hopewell	Whale Success Trial

See also

• Robert Seeley
• Edward Convers

Winthrop Fleet surnames

(These need to be in incorporated into the page for the specific ship they came on. Otherwise, leave them here?)

• Richard Wright (1598-1644) emigrated in 1630 with his daughters and widowed mother (Margaret Wright). From Stepney, Middlesex, England as an agent to Colonel Sir John Humphrey, establishing Humphrey's grant in Saugus (which then included Lynn, Nahant, Saugus, Swampscott, and Marblehead).
• Thomas Munt (1610-1664)

References

• Immigrant Ships of New England
• Wikipedia: Winthrop Fleet
• BANKS, Charles Edward, The Winthrop Fleet of 1630, originally published: Boston, MA: 1930;

reprinted Genealogical Publishing Co.: Baltimore, MD: 1961, etc.; ISBN 0-8063-0020-5

• CURTIN, Dave; The Winthrop Fleet of 1630; http://members.aol.com/dcurtin1/gene/winthrop.htm
• DUNN, Richard S.; SAVAGE, James; YEANDLE, Laetitia (eds.); The Journal of John Winthrop, 1630-1649; Harvard University Press; Cambridge, MA: 1996; ISBN 0-674-48425-8
• Talbot
• Seely History by Montell Seely and Kathryn Seely (Community Press, 1988)

External links

• The Winthrop Society is a hereditary organization made up of the descendants those who arrived on the Winthrop Fleet or other Great Migration ships before 1634.
• The Winthrop Fleet of 1630 from Olive Tree Genealogy.
• Winthrop's Journal 1630-1649 (full text through Google Books)

1630 Winthrop Fleet

Arrival of the Winthrop Colony, by William F. Halsall

He was a passenger on the in the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, part of The Great Migration. It was the largest fleet ever assembled to carry Englishmen overseas to a new homeland. It was a well planned and financed expedition comprising eleven ships that carried 700 immigrants from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The group, led by Governor John Winthrop, sailed from April to July of 1630. The fleet landed at Salem. Of the 700 on board, 200 died during the voyage, and 100 returned to England soon after arrival. Some of the 400 remaining settlers stayed in Salem, but many moved on to Boston, Watertown, or other settlements.

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