The Susan Constant and the Mayflower

Abstract

In his communication in the William and Mary College Historical Quarterly of October, 1936, (pp. 515-521), under the caption of Sarah Versus Susan, Mr. Gregory Robinson depended upon deduction concerning the sailing of the Susan Constant and the because he had failed find record thereof. We covered the Susan Constant in the April, 1937 Quarterly; and now offer the following on the Mayflozwer: annual meetings of the Southern Virginia or James River Colony, as a corporation,' were held at A Great and General Quarter Court in London in May of each year. At these meetings, in addition the election of officers and other business, there was reported A of the Shipping, Men and Provisions sent Virginia during the preceding fiscal year. In the Note for 1620-1, there appears the following entry: The May-Flower of 140. Tuns sent in August 1620 with 100 persons. Sailing as she did under a charter from the Southern Virginia corporation, the was legally bound land her passengers within the limits of the southern or James River Colony, if physically able, do so. Yet, it is common knowledge that she first came anchor on November eleventh, 1620, off what is now Provincetown, Massachusetts; and on December twenty-first, following, landed at what is now Plymouth where her passengers made their settlement. There has been considerable speculation among writers as why this was so. most popular theory is that she was driven the Massachusetts coast by storms and was unable make her way back her supposed destination. Another version is that miscalculation on the part of Captain Jones landed her in New England.3 According the well known so-called Mayflower Compact4 the purpose was to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia.5 This clause has been interpreted by writers, almost without exception, mean the northern part of the southern colony. However, the New England charter of November third, 1620; and the Plymouth Colony's own records of 1636-1658 and 1673, prove the contrary. They show that whereas the May-