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Biography

Edward Winslow was born 18 October 1595 in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom to Edward Winslow (1560-1620) and Magdelene Oliver (1566-1631) and died 8 May 1655 At Sea Near, Jamaica of unspecified causes. He married Elizabeth Barker (1597-1621) 16 May 1618 in South Holland, Netherlands. He married Susanna White (1593-1680) 12 May 1621 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States.


Early Plymouth Colony Settler and passenger on the 1620 Mayflower. 3rd, 6th and 10th Governor of Plymouth Colony.

Vital Statistics

  • Son of Edward Winslow and Madgalene Ollyver
  • 1595-Oct-18 : Born in Droitwich, Worcestershire, England
  • 1617 : Migration to Holland.
  • 1618-May : Married first wife - Elizabeth Barker in Leiden Holland
  • 1620 Trip to America on the Plymouth
  • 1621-May : Married to 2nd Wife, Susannah Fuller, widow of William White.
  • 1655-May-8 : Died near Jamaica on 8 May 1655, and was buried at sea.

Biography

He was born , on October 18, 1595. In 1617 he removed to Leiden, united with John Robinson (1567-1625)'s church there, and in 1620 was one of the "pilgrims" who emigrated to New England on the Mayflower and founded the Plymouth colony.

Voyage of the Mayflower

His first wife was Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow, whom he married in May 1618 at Leiden. She accompanied him on the Mayflower, and died soon after their arrival in Plymouth. Also accompanying Winslow were his children, George Soule, a teacher for the children, and Elias Story, a servant. Winslow remarried in May 1621 to Mrs Susannah (---) White, the mother of Peregrine White (1620-1704). This was the first marriage in the New England colonies. Winslow later founded what would become Marshfield in the Plymouth Colony where he lived on an estate he called Careswell.

Mayflower2016

Mayflower at Provincetown Harbor

The Mayflower, originating from London with a group of Adventurers bound for the New World rendezvoused on 22 July with the Speedwell just arriving from Holland with a group of religious refugees from Leiden. Originally intended to sail jointly to the English Colony in Virginia it soon became evident that Speedwell was not seaworthy. Passengers and cargo were combined onto Mayflower (with many left behind) for the journey, finally departing on September 9.

During the voyage fierce storms blew the ship off course, arriving at Cape Cod on the Eastern Massachusetts coastline on November 9th. For two days they attempted to sail south to Virginia but exhausting supplies and fierce storms caused them to abort this effort and drop anchor at what is now Provincetown Harbor. On November 11th, the group decided to settle here and start their own colony. They wrote a governmental contract called the Mayflower Compact, Edward was the 3rd signer on this document.

Mayflower compact 2016

Signing the Mayflower Compact 1620, a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris 1899

About the middle of December 1620, the ship moved and dropped anchor in Plymouth Harbor. All the while the pilgrims were conducting several exploring missions of the area and negotiations with the local natives. Almost half of the passengers died, suffering from an outbreak of a contagious disease described as a mixture of scurvy, pneumonia and tuberculosis. In the spring, they built huts ashore, and on March 21, 1621, the surviving passengers disembarked from the Mayflower into their new settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Colonial Leader

Winslow was delegated by his associates to treat with the Native Americans in the vicinity and succeeded in winning the friendship of their chief, Massasoit (c. 1580-1661). He was one of the assistants from 1624 to 1647, except in 1633-1634, 1636-1637 and 1644-1645, when he was governor of the colony. He was also, in 1643, one of the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England. On several occasions he was sent to England to look after the interests of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colony, and defend these colonies from the attacks of such men as John Lyford, Thomas Morton and Samuel Gorton. He left on his last mission as the agent of Massachusetts Bay, in October 1646, and spent nine years in England, where he held a minor office under Cromwell, and in 1654, was made a member of the commission appointed to determine the value of certain English ships destroyed by Denmark.

In 1655 he was the chief of the three English commissioners whom Cromwell sent on his expedition against the West Indies to advise with its leaders Admiral Venables and Admiral William Penn, but died near Jamaica on 8 May 1655, and was buried at sea. Winslow's portrait, the only likeness of any of the "Mayflower pilgrims" done from life, is in the gallery of the Pilgrim Society at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

His son Josiah Winslow (1628-1680) later served as governor of Plymouth colony. Most of his descendants and indeed most of the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers remained loyal at the time of the American Revolution. Indeed, the split between the Loyalists and the Patriots can be traced back to the differences between the Pilgrim Fathers colony at Plymouth Rock and the Puritan Fathers Massachusetts Bay colony. The former were loyal to the Crown, tolerant of other religions and cultivated good relations with the native people. The latter were disloyal from the beginning, intolerant of other religions, and made war with the native people.

Marriage & Family

1st Marriage : Elizabeth Barker

He first married Elizabeth Barker (1597-1621) after May 12, 1618 in Leiden, Holland. She died on March 24, 1621 at Plymouth Colony. One child born to her: Margaret Winslow (1620–1655). Elizabeth was buried in 1621 in the Cole's Hill Burial Ground in Plymouth. She is memorialized on the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb, Cole's Hill, as "Elizabeth, first wife of Edward Winslow.

  1. Margaret Winslow

2nd Marriage : Susanna White

Edward married second to Susanna White (1593-1680) who was also a passenger on the Mayflower and a member of the Leiden, Holland Congregation. She was pregnant during the Mayflower voyage and gave birth to Peregrine in late November 1620, while the ship was anchored at Cape Cod. Peregrine White (1620-1704) was the first white baby boy born on the Mayflower in the harbor of Massachusetts, the second baby born on the Mayflower's historic voyage, and the first known English child born to the Pilgrims in America. Susanna's first husband was Pilgrim William White (1570-1621), with whom she had sons Resolved and Peregrine White, all of whom were Mayflower passengers. Susanna was widowed February 21, 1621, and subsequently married Pilgrim Edward Winslow. Edward's wife had perished on March 24, 1621.[8][9] Susanna married Edward on May 12, 1621 in Plymouth Colony.[10] The wedding of Edward Winslow and Susanna was the first in Plymouth Colony.


  1. (child) born and died in 1622 or 1623
  2. Edward Winslow – born ca. 1624. No record after May 22, 1627.
  3. John Winslow – born ca. 1626. No record after May 22, 1627.
  4. Josiah Winslow (1628-1680) - 13th Governor of Plymouth Colony - he signed the declaration of war for King Philip's War in 1675. Born ca. 1627 and married Penelope Pelham by 1658 and had four children.
  5. Edward Winslow -
  6. Elizabeth Winslow – born ca. 1631. Married (1) Robert Brooks on 8 April 1656 in Clapham, Surrey,[16] and had one son. Married (2) George Curwin 1669 and had two daughters. He died 1684/5. She died 1698.



Children


Offspring of Edward Winslow and Elizabeth Barker (1597-1621)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Margaret Winslow (1621-1695)


Offspring of Edward Winslow and Susanna White (1593-1680)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Edward Winslow (1623-1623)
John Winslow (1625-1627)
Josiah Winslow (1628-1680) 22 May 1629 Plymouth Colony, Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts 18 December 1680 Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Penelope Pelham (1630-1703)
Edward Winslow (1629-1660)
Elizabeth Winslow (1631-1697)



Siblings


Offspring of Edward Winslow (1560-1620) and Eleanor Pelham (1564-1594)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Richard Winslow (1585-1659)
Margaret Winslow (1589-1666)


Offspring of Edward Winslow (1560-1620) and Magdelene Oliver (1566-1631)
Name Birth Death Joined with
Edward Winslow (1595-1655) 18 October 1595 Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom 8 May 1655 At Sea Near, Jamaica Elizabeth Barker (1597-1621)
Susanna White (1593-1680)
John Winslow (1597-1674) 26 April 1597 Worcestershire, England 1674 Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Mary Chilton (c1605-1679)
Eleanor Winslow (1598-1672)
Kenelm Winslow (1599-1672) 29 April 1599 Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, England 12 September 1672 Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts Eleanor Newton (1598-1681)
Gilbert Winslow (1600-1663) 29 October 1600 Baptism at St Peters Church, Droitwich, Shropshire, England, United Kingdom 11 October 1631 Ludlow, Shropshire, England, United Kingdom
Elizabeth Winslow (1602-1605)
Magdelene Winslow (1604-1693)
Josias Winslow (1606-1674) 11 February 1606 Droitwich, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom 1 December 1674 Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States Margaret Bourne (1615-1683)
Mary Magdelene Winslow (1610-1687)


Other Household Members

  • Humility Cooper (1619-1638) - arrived in 1620 on Mayflower with the Tilley's who both died. She was part of the Winslow household in 1623 per the land grant records giving her one acre. By 1627 she was in the Brewster home and in 1638 she returned to England.
  • More, Ellen (Elinor) (1612-1621)*, sister, age 8, assigned as a servant of Edward Winslow (1595-1655) after the illicit affair and breakup of the More Family. She died in November 1620 soon after the arrival of the Mayflower at Cape Cod Harbor.
  • Elias Story (c1604-1621), servant, (Mayflower passenger) probably under age 21.
  • George Soule (c1593-1678), servant, Mayflower passenger, married and had 8 children by 1650, joining the Alden settlement at Duxbury.
  • John Thomas (1621-1691), governor of Winslow's estate back in England. he came to America in 1635 and joined Winslow at the Marshfield settlement.

Vital Records

Bradfords Passenger List

Source: History of Mayflower Plantation (1650) by William Bradford (1590-1657)

"Mr. Edward Winslow, Elizabeth his wife, & 2 men servants called George Soule, and Elias Story, also a little girl was put to him called Ellen, the sister of Richard More."

"Mr. Ed Winslow, his wife died the first winter; and he married with the widow of Mr. White, and hat 2 children living by her marriageable, besides sundry that are dead. One of his servants died, as also the little girl soon after the ships arrival. But his man George Soule is still living,, and hath 8 children."

Green Harbor Monument

GreenHarborSide1

This person is listed in memorium on the Green Harbor Monument, located in Marshfield, Massachusetts and dedicated in honor of the early colonists from Plymouth Colony who settled this area in the early 1600s.

References


See Also

Winslow2018a


Footnotes (including sources)

‡ General




MainTour

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Edward_Winslow. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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