Mayflower

The Mayflower was the ship which transported the Pilgrim Fathers from Plymouth, England to "North Virginia" (in what was later to become the United States of America) in 1620, leaving Plymouth on September 6 and dropping anchor near Cape Cod on November 11.

The ship

The ship Mayflower was used as a cargo ship trading between England and other European countries, principally France but also Norway, Germany and Spain. At least between 1609 and 1623 it was mastered by Christopher Jones, who was Captain on the trans-atlantic voyage, and based in Rotherhithe. He was buried in the graveyard of St Mary's Rotherhithe following his death in March 1623, and it is likely that the ship was broken up for scrap lumber there in the following year. The Mayflower Barn situated just outside the small Quaker Village of Jordans in Buckinghamshire, England purports to be constructed from these timbers.

Related Topics:
England - France - Norway - Germany - Spain - 1609 - 1623 - Christopher Jones - Rotherhithe - St Mary's Rotherhithe

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Details regarding the size and overall dimensions of the ship are unknown, but it has been estimated from its load weight and the usual size of 180-ton merchant ships in the period to be 90 - 110 feet in length and about 25 feet in width. Careful research went into designing a replica, the Mayflower II (launched on September 22, 1956), to make it as much like its namesake as possible.

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