St.Pieterskerk in Leiden, South Holland is best known today as the church of the Pilgrim Fathers. In the area around it John Robinson (1567-1625)’s group of English Puritans settled before they left Europe to found Plymouth Colony and establish New England. Robinson never made the trip to Massachusetts, he died in Leiden and is buried in St. Pieterskerk.
Plaque Inscription[]
During the Pilgrim Fathers' Leiden exile, more than thirty family members died. Many were buried in the Pieterskerk along with their Leiden neighbours.
"BUT NOW WE ARE ALL, IN ALL PLACES, STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS, TRAVELRES AND SOJOURNERS..." Robert Cushman, Pilgrim Leader, 1622
Pilgrim Memorial Plaque at Pieterskerk in Leiden
- ISAAC ALLERTON's child - 1620
- JOHN ALLERTON's child - 1616
- THOMAS BLOSSOM's children - 1617
- THOMAS BREWER's wife & children - 1617, 1618
- WILLIAM BRITSMAN's child - 1612
- EDMUND CHANDLER's child - 1619
- ROBERT CUSHMAN's wife & children - 1616
- SAMUEL FULLER's wife & child - 1615
- EDMUND JESSOP's child - 1618
- JOHN KEBLE's child - 1614
- JOHN KEBLE's widow - 1645
- SAMUEL LEE's child - 1619
- ROBERT PECK's child - 1619
- JOHN REYNOLD's wife & child - 1619
- JOHN ROBINSON's children - 1618, 1621, 1623
- JOHN ROBINSON - 1625
- JOHN SPOONER - 1628
- JOHN & JANE SPOONER's child - 1630
- RANDALL THICKENS' child - 1615
Robinson's Plaque[]
The Mayflower, 1620
In Memory of Rev. John Robinson, M.A. Pastor of the English Church worshipping over against this spot, A.D. 1609-1625. Whence at his prompting went forth The Pilgrims to settle New England in 1620.
Buried under this house of worship in March 1625. In Memoria Aeternia Erit Justus.
Erected by the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States of America. A.D. 1891.
References[]