Stephen Hopkins

Other Events and Attributes:

• Immigration: 1620, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA; One of the Mayflower Pilgrims

Notes:

Immigration:
Stephen Hopkins went with the ship Sea Venture on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia in 1609 as a minister's clerk, but the ship wrecked in the "Isle of Devils" (Bermuda). Stranded on an island for ten months, the passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs. Six months into the castaway, Stephen Hopkins and several others organized a mutiny against the current governor. The mutiny was discovered and Stephen was sentenced to death. However, he pleaded with sorrow and tears. "So penitent he was, and made so much moan, alleging the ruin of his wife and children in this his trespass, as it wrought in the hearts of all the better sorts of the company". He managed to get his sentence commuted.

Eventually, the castaways built a small ship and sailed themselves to Jamestown. How long Stephen remained in Jamestown is not known. However, while he was gone, his wife Mary died. She was buried in Hursley on 9 May 1613, and left behind a probate estate which mentions her children Elizabeth, Constance and Giles.

Stephen was back in England by 1617, when he married Elizabeth Fisher, but apparently had every intention of bringing his family back to Virginia. Their first child, Damaris, was born about 1618. In 1620, Stephen Hopkins brought his wife, and children Constance, Giles, and Damaris on the Mayflower (child Elizabeth apparently had died).

On September 6, 1620, the Mayflower sailed from England with 102 men, women and children: 74 male, 28 female, plus the crew. After arriving at the shores of what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts the Pilgrims did not disembark but spent their first winter living onboard. By April 1621, only 53 passengers and half the crew had survived. Women were particularly hard hit; of the 19 women who had boarded the Mayflower, only five survived.

Stephen married Mary Kent before 1604 in England. Mary was born in in England; died in May 1613 in Hursley, Hampshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Constance Hopkins was born in 1606 in England; died in Oct 1677 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA; was buried in Cove Burying Ground.

Stephen married Elizabeth Fisher in Feb 1618 in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]