Along the Pilgrim Trail ~ Stephen Hopkins of Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England

Along the Pilgrim Trail, Part 5

All Saints Church, Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England

Vincent and I recently took the General Society of Mayflower Descendants Historic Sites Tour of England, Wales and The Netherlands along with 41 other enthusiast participants (known as "The 43").  We traced the footsteps of the Separatists and the Mayflower passengers and crew all around these countries with some amazing tour directors, guides, historians and authors.  We were given access to places off the usual tourist trails, and behind the scenes.  We had a wonderful time, and I will be blogging about it over the next few weeks.

On our tour we stopped at many small churches in tiny little English villages. One of the first village churches we toured was All Saints in Upper Clatford, Hampshire, where Stephen Hopkins (1581 – 1644) of the Mayflower was baptized on 30 April 1581.  He was the son of John Hopkins and Elizabeth Williams.  He was minister’s clerk, and worked for the Virginia Company.  He left on board the Sea Venture in 1609 for Jamestown, Virginia, but was shipwrecked in Bermuda.  The castaways rebuilt two new boats and reached Jamestown in 1610.  Sometime later Hopkins returned to London, and found that his wife had died.  He remarried to Elizabeth Fisher and in 1620 boarded the Mayflower with his family for the New World a second time.

A copy of the baptism record of Stephen Hopkins
is on display inside All Saints church

The Stephen Hopkins descendants posed for a group photo
in front of the altar with Jane from All Saints church

This rural church was surrounded by grazing cows and sheep, with a tidy little churchyard full of interesting gravestones.  Even those of us who were not Hopkins descendants were enchanted! The church building was originally erected in the 12th century, and today it looks much like it did when Stephen Hopkins attended services here.

Jane, the church historian who gave us a tour, informed us that PBS had been to the church recently with the author and historian Caleb Johnson to film a documentary about the life of Stephen Hopkins.  I can’t wait!  His life story is like an action adventure movie.

Stay tuned for more coming soon!

Yes, those are cows right next to the church gate!

Views of the picturesque churchyard at Upper Clatford

The Upper Clatford welcome committee!

Part 1 of this series "Babworth, Nottinghamshire":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-babworth.html  

Part 2 of this series “Scrooby Manor, Nottinghamshire”:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-scrooby-manor.html  


Part 3 of this series "Gainsborough, Lincolnshire"
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-gainsborough.html  

Part 4 of this series "Harwich, Essex, home of the Mayflower"
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-harwich-essex.html   

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Along the Pilgrim Trail ~ Stephen Hopkins of Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 16, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-stephen-hopkins-of.html: accessed [access date]). 

Weathervane Wednesday ~ Two Clocktowers

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly.  I started by publishing weather vanes from the Londonderry area, but now I've been finding interesting weather vanes all across New England.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are interesting. Often, my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weather vanes, too!

Today's weather vane collection is from an island two hours by air from Boston.

Do you know the location of the weather vanes featured in collection #188? Scroll down to see the answer!

The Clocktower Mall at the Royal Dock Yards, Bermuda

seen from the street... 

and seen from the harbor

The Clocktower Mall was built in the Royal Navy Dock Yards of Bermuda as administrative offices in the 1800s.   In 1856 it was used as a warehouse for the British Royal Navy. The South Tower is a regular clock, and the North Tower is a one handed tide clock to mark high tide.  Each tower is 100 feet high.

The Royal Naval Dockyard was built in 1795.  The first construction laborers were sailors, and then slaves were used, followed by prisoners.  There are many fortifications, ramparts, warehouses, barracks and buildings including an admiral's residence.  It was a crucial naval yard for the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.  It was used as a naval shipyard until 1958.

Today the Clocktower Mall has many small shops and places to grab snacks, near the cruise ship terminal.  Nearby are larger shops, restaurants, art galleries and the "Frog and Onion" pub. Both clocks in the clocktowers are not functioning.

Shopping at the Royal Navy Dockyard webpage
http://www.dockyardtimes.com/dockyard-times-shop/166-shop-in-dockyard  

Shopping guide to the Clocktower Mall
http://www.thewestend.bm/category/shopping/clocktower-mall/  

Wikipedia article for the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Naval_Dockyard,_Bermuda  

Click here to see the entire series of 188 different Weathervane Wednesday posts! 

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/12/weathervane-wednesday-two-clocktowers.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Weathervane Wednesday - On a Faraway Island!

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly.  I started by publishing weather vanes from the Londonderry area, but now I've been finding interesting weather vanes all across New England.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are interesting. Often, my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weather vanes, too!

Today's weather vane is from an island two hours by air from Boston.

Do you know the location of weather vane #187? Scroll down to see the answer!

Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, Bermuda

The view from the lighthouse

The view from the road

This unusual weathervane is mounted on a concrete column at the base of the Gibbs Hill Lighthouse in Bermuda.  Gibbs Hill is located 245 feet above the beach, and the cast iron lighthouse is another 117 feet.  There are 185 steps to the beacon at the top of the lighthouse.

The weathervane is a giant arrow, with no cardinal points. It was originally installed on top of the lighthouse in 1846, but in 1988 it was removed to place a radar scanner up there.  The radar is used to guide ships thorough the reefs surrounding Bermuda.  This weathervane was damaged in a wind storm in February 2014, but has since been restored.

Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, Bermuda website     http://bermudalighthouse.com/

Click here to see the entire series of 187 different Weathervane Wednesday posts! 

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/12/weathervane-wednesday-on-faraway-island.html
Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Is your Ancestor on the Sea Venture Monument, St. George, Bermuda?

2007 photo of the old Sea Venture Memorial
St. George, Bermuda

In 2009 Bermuda celebrated the 400th anniversary of the shipwreck of the Sea Venture.  In 1609 Sir George Somers and his company wrecked on a reef off Bermuda.  They were headed to Jamestown, but instead started a British settlement on Bermuda while they used the wood of the Sea Venture to build two smaller ships to continue their trip to Virginia.   The two new ships were the Deliverance and the Patience, and they were able to bring much needed food supplies to the starving, dying colonists at Jamestown.

The Sea Venture Memorial was unveiled in 2010.  This monument is a wooden cross mounted on a concrete column.  The shipwreck victims had originally built a wooden cross to claim Bermuda for England and King James I.   The monument has a plaque with the 50 confirmed names of the shipwreck survivors.  It is estimated that there were 150 sailors and settlers, and one dog, aboard the Sea Venture.   From this spot you can see the reefs where the wreck occurred, and you can also see Gates Bay where the survivors landed on Bermuda to start the new colony.

In 1958 Edmund Downing found the Sea Venture shipwreck in 30 feet of water off St. George.  The Smithsonian in Washington DC sent Mendel Peterson to verify the site.  They measured the timbers and unearthed a jug, pipe and vase to confirm that this was indeed the Sea Venture.

Here is a list of the survivor's names on the Monument:

UPDATE:  11am January 9, 2017
I have been contacted by Dr. George L. Cook, historian and a trustee of the St. George's Foundation in Bermuda, that there are errors in the list below.  He is creating a list that is accurate and will send it to me soon.  I will update this list as soon as I receive it from Dr. Cook.  - Please stay tuned. 

UPDATE:  1:20pm January 10, 2017
Here is the updated list from the new 2010 Sea Venture memorial transcribed by Dr. Cook (and an updated photo below):

HEREUNDER ARE THOSE BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN AMONGST THE ONE HUNDRED
AND FIFTY SURVIVORS OF SEA VENTURE’S WRECK ON 28 JULY 1609 AND
(EXCEPT AS NOTED) TO HAVE DEPARTED FOR JAMESTOWN IN VIRGINIA ON
DELIVERANCE AND PATIENCE ON 10 MAY 1610.
__________________________________

VIRGINIA COMPANY OFFICERS

LT. GEN. SIR THOMAS GATES
ADMIRAL SIR GEORGE SOMERS
CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT
REVEREND RICHARD BUCK
AND
MISTRESS MARIA THOROWGOOD BUCK
THOMAS WHITTINGHAM*
* killed by native people in virginia

_________________________________

ADVENTURERS

RALPH HAMOR, ESQ.
MISTRESS HORTON
SILVESTER JOURDAIN, ESQ.
HENRY PAINE, ESQ.*
CAPT. WILLIAM PEIRCE
RICHARD RICH, ESQ.
HENRY SHELLEY, ESQ.
WILLIAM STRACHEY, ESQ.
JAMES SWIFT, ESQ.
CAPT. GEORGE YEARDLEY (GATES' AIDE)
*EXECUTED

_____________________________
COLONISTS

HENRY BAGWELL
HUMPHREY BLUNT
JEFFREY BRIARS*
JOSHUA CHARD
EDWARD EASON
AND
MISTRESS EASON**
GEORGE GRAVES
THOMAS GODBY
WILLIAM HITCHMAN*
STEPHEN HOPKINS
ELIZABETH JONES
RICHARD LEWIS*
JOHN LIGHTFOOT
ELIZABETH PERSONS
JOHN PROCTOR
HUMPHREY REEDE
JOHN ROLFE
AND
MISTRESS ROLFE***
SAMUEL SHARPE
* died on Bermuda
** and baby boy “Bermudas”
*** baby girl “Bermuda” died in Bermuda

_____________________________

MARINERS

EDWARD WATERS (Somers’ aide)
HENRY RAVENS* (master mate)
ROBERT WALSINGHAM (coxswain)
RICHARD FROBISHER (shipwright)
NICHOLAS BENNIT (carpenter)
THOMAS POWELL (cook)
WILLIAM BRIAN
CHRISTOPHER CARTER**
EDWARD CHARD
RICHARD KNOWLES
WILLIAM MARTIN
FRANCIS PEAREPOINT
EDWARD SAMUEL***
JOHN WANT
ROBERT WATERS**
         
* killed by native people in Virginia
** stayed behind in Bermuda
*** murdered
   

The 2010 Sea Venture Memorial plaques
unveiled 11 November 2010
Photo contributed by Dr. George Cook of Bermuda

Some of the names on this monument are well known in American history.  Stephen Hopkins survived the shipwreck and then went on to be a colonist in Jamestown.  He returned to England and later was a passenger on the Mayflower to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620.   John Rolfe baby girl, Bermuda, on the island of Bermuda, and his wife probably died later in Virginia.  Rolfe went on to Jamestown and married Pocahontas in April 1614.  Other shipwreck survivors went on to be famous in Bermuda history.  Sir Thomas Gates was the Governor for the Virginia colony.  Christopher Carter has many descendants still living on the island of Bermuda.  According to Dr. Cook, Gate's aide, George Yeardley, was knighted in 1618 and became a Governor of Virginia in 1619.  Yeardley convened the first elected assembley, the House of Burgesses, on 30 July 1619.

Dr. Cook also wrote me that Jeffrey Briars, William Hitchman and Richard Lewis died of "natural" causes.

YouTube video of the dedication ceremony of the Sea Venture monument, where descendants read the names of the survivors inscribed on the plaques:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ2cSAwqei8  

Geni.com project for descendants of the Sea Venture shipwreck, 1609
http://www.geni.com/projects/Ancient-Planters-Wreck-of-The-Sea-Venture-1609/95   

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Is your Ancestor on the Sea Venture Monument, St. George, Bermuda?", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 8, 2014, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/09/is-your-ancestor-on-sea-venture.html: accessed [access date]). 

Town Criers

Do you have an ancestor who was a town crier?  Did you know that some towns still have town criers?  We have seen quite a few, and after bumping into town criers in places as far away as St. George, Bermuda and La Conner, Washington, I decided to look into this phenomenon.  What were all these folks doing dressed up as town criers in the year 2012?

A town crier is the person who makes public announcements ordered by a court or by the government.  Usually they carry a bell, or shout “Hear ye!” or “Oyez!”   In some countries they carry a drum or a gong.  There were town criers in medieval England, and in colonial America.  Some towns continued the tradition into the 20^th century.  There is still an official town crier in Mariemont, Cincinnati, Ohio and in St. George, Bermuda.  You can look for town criers in New England town records, and in old newspaper archives. 

The St. George, Bermuda Town Crier welcoming a cruise ship from Gates Fort

The town crier in St. George has to be my favorite town crier.  When the NCL cruise ship Majesty used to sail from Boston to St. George, he would greet the ship from the Gates Fort as it squeezed through the cut into the harbor.  St. George is the third oldest English town in the New World, after St. John’s Newfoundland and Jamestown, Virginia.  It was founded by settlers shipwrecked on their way to Jamestown.  The town retains many colonial features familiar to New Englanders, such as a town square complete with stocks and a dunking chair.  It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. The St. George town crier greeted the Majesty passengers with Red Sox Scores and news from Boston every day the ship was in port.  

Gates Fort seen from the deck of the
Norwegian Cruise ship Majesty

Unfortunately, the NCL cruise line retired the Majesty and the new ships are too big to fit through the cut into St. George harbor.  Boston passengers miss the town crier welcome to Bermuda very much!

There are still town crier guilds around the world.  Most of these participants are re-enactors or employees at living history museums.  They hold competitions for the best shout or the best costume.  We ran into the 2005 Town Crier competition while we were visiting La Conner, Washington in 2005, and we were amazed at how seriously these folks take their town crier business.  The costumes were stunning, and the shouts were both historic and often amusing!

Participants in the 2005 Town Crier Competition
seen in La Conner, Washington

More participants in the 2005 Town Crier Competition

A search of my personal genealogy files found a few men who had been appointed or elected to be town criers.  One is Thomas Driver, born 1687, who was paid 40 shillings to be the bell ringer in Lynn, Massachusetts.  He was my first cousin, 9 generations removed, son of William Driver and Mary Glover.  Not only is he my cousin in the GLOVER lineage, but he married Mary Ingalls, daughter of Stephen Ingalls and Dinah Elson, my 2^nd cousin, 8 generations removed on my INGALLS lineage.

The tradition of the town crier is carried on by many newspapers with the name “Town Crier” or by pubs with the name “Bell in Hand” (aren’t pubs the best place to learn the local news and gossip?)   In Boston the Bell in Hand Tavern on 45 Union Street touts itself as America’s oldest tavern, established in 1795. It was owned by Jimmy Wilson, who was Boston’s town crier for fifty years. 

Click here for a page about Thomas Driver, from page 88 of the Driver Family compiled genealogy by Harriet Ruth Waters Cooke:

http://books.google.com/books?id=zCNKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PR9&lpg=PR9&dq=%22thomas+driver%22+%22bell+ringer%22&source=bl&ots=D9Gq5TOdpO&sig=VTvccqByzZzYc54w-GseekdiMIU&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22thomas%20driver%22%20%22bell%20ringer%22&f=false

The American Guild of Town Criers http://www.americantowncriers.com/

The North American Town Crier Championships http://www.ushistory.org/towncrier/natcc.htm

The Ancient and Honourable Guild to Town Criers http://www.ahgtc.org.uk/

The Bell in Hand Tavern, Boston http://bellinhand.com/homepage

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Friday Funny - A Very Polite Sign

Seen at Fort Scaur, Bermuda

This very polite sign doesn't mention the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain.  It reads:

"During the troubled relations between Gt. Britain
and the United States in the 19th century, this
was part of a ring of fortifications built in
Bermuda's defence.
You are welcome to use this site for a picnic.
The many scenic views it offers for photographs
should not be missed."

The War of 1812 made Bermuda a great military base. After Britain lost the ports of the new United States, the fortifications and naval base in Bermuda were strengthened and became of great importance.  The reefs around Bermuda were thoroughly charted to allow large naval ships to easily enter the ports, and the new naval dockyards became one of the most important military bases in the North Atlantic. 

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Deliverance of Bermuda

The Deliverance replica as seen from the top deck of our cruise ship, in port at St. George, Bermuda
 

This beloved ship has been recreated and on display at St. George, Bermuda. We took a cruise from Boston to Bermuda several years ago, and our cruise ship moored right next door to the Deliverance replica. In 1609 the Sea Venture set sail from Plymouth, England as the flagship of a seven ship fleet destined as the Third Supply to Jamestown, Virginia. The fleet ran into a hurricane and the ships were separated. The Admiral Sir George Somers ran the ship into the reefs of Bermuda which allowed 150 people to get safely ashore.
 

Not only was this the story of the founding of Bermuda by English settlers, it was also the story William Shakespeare used when writing his play “The Tempest”. Two new ships, Deliverance and Patience, were built out of the wreck of the Sea Venture and local Bermuda cedar. Some of the settlers died on Bermuda before the company set sail for Jamestown again, including the wife and infant of John Rolfe, who would find a new wife, Pocahontas, in Virginia. Also in this company was Stephen Hopkins, who survived this wreck, survived Jamestown, went back to England, survived passage again on the Mayflower and its first infamous winter in New England with his family. Three men stayed behind in Bermuda, as its only inhabitants until the Plough arrived in 1612.
 

There was an abundance of food and wild pigs on Bermuda, and the Jamestown settlers were dying of starvation. An expedition to collect food in Bermuda for Jamestown was made in 1610. Admiral Sir George Somers (1554 -1610) died on this voyage, and had his heart buried in Bermuda. The rest of his body was buried in his hometown of Lyme Regis, England
 

A memorial to Admiral Sir George Sommers in St. George, Bermuda

click to enlarge

For more information:

Here I Shall Die Ashore: Stephen Hopkins, Bermuda Castaway, Jamestown Survivor, and Mayflower Pilgrim, by Caleb Johnson, Xlibris Corp., 2007.

Sea Venture: Shipwreck, Survival, and the Salvation of the First English Colony in the New World, by Kieran Doherty, St. Martin’s Press, 2008.

http://www.bermuda-online.org/sirgeorgesomers.htm the story of the wreck of the Sea Venture and Admiral Sir George Somers, by The Royal Gazette, Bermuda’s only newspaper.

UPDATE 13 May 2013

I had originally called the replica ship in the photo The Sea Venture, but thanks to a message on Facebook I received from Rick Denham, who had been to Bermuda with the "Hopkins' Cruisin' Cousins" he identified the ship as the Deliverance.  I just confirmed this with the official Bermuda tourism website, too.  Rick Denham invites everyone who is interested in the story of Stephen Hopkins to visit the Pigrim Hopkins Heritage Society at http://www.pilgrimhopkins.com/site1/   Thanks, Rick!

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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday- St. Peter's Church, Bermuda

St. Peter's Church is the oldest Protestant church in the New World. The original building was built in St. George, Bermuda in 1612, and the present building was constructed in 1713.

There are two graveyards. One, a walled area in the west was for slaves, and the burial area in the east was for the white settlers.

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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo