Rootweb Notes of William Brewster
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ANCESTRAL SUMMARY (1) William Brewster, taxed 1524, Bently cum Arksey, York, England; m.Maude Man bef. 1558; children: William and Henry. (2) William Brewster II, b. c1535, d. 1590, living in Scrooby, York,England in 1564; m. Mary (Smythe) Simkinson, dau. of William Smythe of Stainforth, Hatfield, England, widow of John Simkinsonof Doncaster, York, England. (3) William Brewster of the Mayflower BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY of William Brewster William Brewster was the Reverend Elder of the Pilgrim's church atPlymouth, since their pastor John Robinson remained behind in Leyden,Holland with the majority of the congregation which planned to come toAmerica at a later time. Brewster was a fugitive from the King ofEngland, because he had published a number of religious pamphlets whilein Leyden which were critical or opposed the tenets of the Church ofEngland. He had been a member of the Separatist church movement from itsvery beginning, and was the oldest Mayflower passenger to haveparticipated at the First Thanksgiving, in his early fifties. WilliamBradford wrote a lot about William Brewster in Of Plymouth Plantation,some of which follows: "After he had attained some learning, viz. theknowledge of Latin tongue, and some insight in the Greek, and spent somesmall time at Cambridge, and then being first seasoned with the seeds ofgrace and virtue, he went to the court, and served that religious andgodly gentleman, Mr. Davison, divers years, when he was Secretary ofState; who found him so discreet and faithful as he trusted him above allother that were about him, and only employed him in all matters ofgreatest trust and secrecy . . . he attended his mr. when he was sent inambassage by the Queen into the Low Countries . . . And, at his return,the States honored him with a gold chain, and his master committed it tohim, and commanded him to wear it when they arrived in England, as theyrid through the country, till they came to the court . . . Afterwards hewent and lived in the country, in good esteem amongst his friends and the gentlemen of those parts, especiallythe Godly and religious. He did much good in the country where he lived,in promoting and furthering religion not only by his practise andexample, and provocating and encouraging of others, but by procuring ofgood preachers to the places thereabouts, and drawing on of others toassist and help forward in such work; he himself most commonly deepest inthe charge, and sometimes above his ability. . . . They ordinarily met atthis house on the Lord's day, (which was a manor of the bishops) and withgreat love he entertained them when they came, making provision for them to his great charge. He wasthe chief of those that were taken at Boston, and suffered the greatestloss; and of the seven that were kept longest in prison, and after boundover . . . After he came into Holland he suffered much hardship, after hehad spent the most of his means, having a great charge, and manychildren; and, in regard of his former breeding and course of life, notso fit for many employments as others were, especially as were toilsomeand laborious. But yet he ever bore his condition with much cheerfulnessand contention. Towards the later part of those 12 years spent inHolland, his outward condition was mended, and he lived well andplentifully; for he fell into a way to teach many students, who had adesire to learn the English tongue, to teach them English; . . . He alsohad means to set up printing, by the help of some friends . . . and byreason of many books which would not be allowed to be printed in England,they might have had more then they could do. . . . And besides that, hewould labor with his hands in the fields as long as he was able; yet whenthe church had no other minister, he taught twice every Sabbath . . . Forhis personal abilities, he was qualified above many; he was wise anddiscreet and well spoken, having a grave and deliberate utterance, of avery cheerful spirit, very sociable and pleasant amongst his friends, ofan humble and modest mind, of a peaceable disposition, undervaluinghimself and his own abilities . . . inoffensive and innocent in his lifeand conversation . . . he was tender-hearted, and compassionate of suchas were in misery, but especially of such as had been of good estate andrank, and were fallen into want and poverty, either for goodness andreligions sake, or by the injury and oppression of others; . . . " FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION The maiden name of William Brewster's wife has not been proven. Theclaim it was Mary Wentworth rests solely on the fact that Mary Wentworthhappened to live somewhat close to William Brewster in Scrooby,Nottingham. That is very shaky evidence to say the least. Further, ithas been proposed that William Brewster may have married Mary Wyrall, butthe evidence is just as flimsy for that marriage. There are no fewerthan seven marriages from 1590-1610 that have been located in parishregisters showing a William Brewster marrying a Mary. All, however, havebeen satisfactorily eliminated as possible candidates for the William andMary (Brewster) who came on the Mayflower. So at present, there is noevidence to document who William Brewster's wife Mary actually was. On the Mayflower, age abt. 54., married with children at the time.!Occupation: Printer, Pub. !Source: The Mayflower and her Log. Longbiography in "William Brewster, His True Position in our ColonialHistory" by Hon. Lyman Denison Brewster, in The Mayflower Descendant,Vol. IV, pg. 100-109, 1902. According to the above, he was almost certainly the draftor of theMayflower compact. He was a scholar educated at Cambridge, the oldestaboard the Mayflower, and the spiritual leader of the Pilgrims. He was aprominent organizer of the Pilgrim movement. The following shortbiography is taken from Random House Encyclopedia, 1977: PilgrimReligious Leader, Signatory of the Mayflower Compact. He withdrew fromthe Anglican Church (1606) forming the Separatists, who, due topersecution, fled from England to Holland (1608), where they became knownas Pilgrims. He returned to England to help organize the Pilgrimmigration on the Mayflower 1620. He was a leader of the church atPlymouth and influential in management of the colony. Other sources: "Mayflower Genealogies: VitalStatistics of the Mayflower Passengers" by George Ernest Bowman, in The Mayflower Descendant, Vol.2, pg. 114-120; 1900. "The Brewster Genealogy (1566-1907)" by Emma C. Brewster Jones, Vol.1 & 2. The Grafton Press, Genealogical Publishers: New York; 1908. "The Mother of Elder William Brewster of the Mayflower" by John G.Hunt, in NEHGR 125:250. "William Brewster: The Father of New England, His Life and Times1567-1644" by Rev. H. Kirk-Smith, Richard Kay Pub., 1992, 272 pages.(Excellent book) Parents: The parents of William Brewster are given in an article inthe New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol 124, pg 150, where the authors argue that the parents of William Brewster wereprobably William Brewster and Mary Smythe. This is likely to be correct, although it is hard to prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt. Birth: Mayf.Des.18:18. !Death: Mayf.Des.1:7. Birth-Death: "The TrueDate of the Birth & Death of Elder Brewster" NEHGR 18:18, MD 2:115, 3:15. Inventory: MD 3:15 Education: He matriculated at Cambridge University on the 3rdDecember 1580, as a Pensioner of Peterhouse Collect (Arber, E., 1897,p.189). In [Shurtleff 12:115-117], a long agreement between Love Brewsterand Jonathan Brewster is recorded (Plymouth Deeds). It reads, in part:"Whereas William Brewster late of Plym gent deceased left onely twosonnes surviveing viz. Jonathan the eldest and Love the yeonger Andwhereas the said William died intestate for ought can to this dayappeare. The said Jonathan and Love his sonnes when they returned fromthe buriall of their father ..." agreed how to divide up the estate "wthan entire half part of the estate of the said Willm was given to the saidLove and Sarah his wyfe upon a Covenant of Contract of marryage to bedue at the death of the said Willm Brester now deceased. All wch wasofferred to be prooved legally if neede require by solemne pmise thoughnot in writing." Dated 20 Aug 1645. The following is from the Dictionary of American Biography Vol. 2, pg.29-30 BREWSTER, WILLIAM (1567-Apr. 10, 1644), Pilgrim father, was an Elder ofthe Pilgrim Church, first in importance during the Scrooby period, secondin importance during the Leyden and Plymouth periods. A deposition of hisat Leyden finally settles the dispute about the date of his birth andfixes it in the winter of 1566/67, probably in January. He came toScrooby in 1571 with his father and mother; his father in 1575 becamebaliff of the Manor of Scrooby, one of the exempt estates of theArchbishop of York, and in 1588 was appointed postmaster by Queen Elizabeth when Scrooby was made a post-house on the road between Londonand York. These positions made the father a man of great importance inthe district and provided him with a considerable income. The boy wassomehow prepared for the university and entered Peterhouse, Cambridge, inDecember 1580, where he himself later declared that he acquired his firstSeparatist ideas. He did not take a degree and perhaps remained atCambridge only a few months. In the autumn of 1583 he became a member ofthe household of William Davidson, then important in administrative anddiplomatic life at the court of Elizabeth, and, becoming one of histrusted retainers, accompanied him on missions to the Netherlands in 1584and in 1585-86. Despite the disgrace of Davison in 1587 as a result ofhis part in the execution of Mary Stuart and his consequent retirementfrom public life, Brewster remained in his service until news of hisfather's serious illness caused his return to Scrooby in 1589. He servedas his father's deputy until the latter's death in 1590 and then was himself appointed to the positions of baliff and postmaster, retainingboth until the exodus to Holland in 1608. He married in 1591 Mary (---),by whom he had before 1620 six children. Gradually he became theprotector and then the principal member of a little congregation ofPuritans, gathered from Scrooby and the near-by villages. But they didnot "separate" from the Established Church until the autumn of 1606 andit was not until a year later that John Robinson joined them. After someinvestigation of their proceedings by the High Commission of York, whichcertainly did not amount to persecution, they decided to leave so ungodlya land and finally succeeded in emigrating to Holland in 1608. FindingAmsterdam also uncongenial, they settled at Leyden in 1609. Here, if notearlier, Brewster became elder and teacher of the new church. To earn aliving for his family, he became a printer of Puritan books, wirtten bythe leaders in England, and shipped back to them for sale anddistribution at home. In 1617 the initiation of the plan for emigrationto America took him and others to England where he interviewed officersof the Virginia Company and various royal officials to secure permissionto colonize and a grand of land. Beyond much doubt he was the principalenvoy. Returning to Leyden, he printed in 1618 or 1619 a book which gavegreat offense to James I. Of this the English government complained tothe Dutch authorities in 1619 with such effect that Brewster felt itwiser to discontinue the press altogether and to return with his familyto England where he seems to have lived unmolested until the Mayflowersailed in 1620. He played therefore no part in the final steps at Leydenfor the emigration to America and was not present when the decision wasreached, in April 1620, that the majority should remain at Leyden withRobinson their minister, while the minority should attempt the venturewith Brewster himself as their leader. It also seems probable that heplayed no important part in organizing the company which sailed forAmerica direct from England, being fearful of royal interference with hisown emigration. He embarked on the Mayflower at London with his wife, twosons, and two boys "bound out" to him. At Plymouth, Brewster was the onlychurch officer until 1629, but held services of prayer and praise only;he expounded the Scripture at length, but was forbidden by the rules topreach, baptize, or celebrate the communion. Though he was thereforenever a minister in the Pilgrim sense of the word and though they"called" Smith, Roger Williams, Chauncey, and Reynor as their ministerslater, he remained throughout his life the real leader of the church atPlymouth and the man chiefly responsible for its doctrines, observances,and worship. Administrative position was foreclosed to him by hisposition in the church but he was active in counsel and played a partsecond only to Bradford in all decisions, great and small. He became oneof the Undertakers in 1627 who assumed the Pilgrim indebtedness. Hislibrary (Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 2nd ser.,III, 261-74; V, 37-85) proves him to have been read in history,philosophy, and religious poetry and shows that he continued to buy booksthroughout his life. We have no idea of his personal appearance but we doknow from the inventory of his property (Mayflower Descendant III:15-27) that he wore a violet colored clothcoat, black silk stockings, a ruff, and other clothing, of impeccablemodesty, but less severe than the popular tradition attributes to thePilgrims. Social life at Plymouth was undoubtedly quiet in the extremebut in it Brewster played a very important part, being, says Bradford,"of a very cherful Spirite, very sociable and pleasante amongst hisfriends." He died Apr. 10, 1644, at Plymouth, possessed of a house,lands, cattle, and personalty worth 107 pounds. BREWSTER, William (1567-1644), leader of the Pilgrim Fathers and afounder of the Plymouth Colony, born probably in Scrooby, England. Hestudied briefly at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. From 1584 to 1587he was in the service of an English ambassador, William Davison(1541?-1608), and after 1590 he was bailiff and postmaster in Scrooby.There he organized a group of religious dissenters, often called thePilgrims, who in 1606 separated from the Church of England. Two yearslater Brewster and some Pilgrims, to avoid persecution, moved to theNetherlands, settling in Leiden. He was the ruling elder of the sect, andhe supported himself by teaching and by publishing religious books thathad been banned by the English government. With another Pilgrim leader,William Bradford, he returned to England in 1619 and secured a patentfrom the Virginia Co. for a tract of land in America. Brewster remainedin England until Sept. 16, 1620, when he boarded the Mayflower for thetrip to America. He was a signer of the Mayflower Compact and of theconstitution of Plymouth Colony, and he continued as a leader of thecolony. Until 1629, when an ordained minister was appointed, Brewster wasthe only church officer at the Plymouth Colony. |