His interest in the Wampanoag people was crucial and the Pilgrims received crucial help in learning how to survive in the new land. It’s thought that his natural ability as a diplomat meant an alliance formed between the colonists and the Native Americans. The couple had three sons - Edward, John and Josiah, one daughter - Elizabeth, and one unknown child who died young.ĭuring this tumultuous time, Winslow formed a positive relationship with Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag tribe whose land the Pilgrims had settled upon. A month-and-a-half later Edward and Susanna married in a civil ceremony held by Governor William Bradford - they were the first to marry in the new land. On March 24, despite surviving that harsh winter, Elizabeth died. In February 1621, that would include William White, who died living his widow Susanna White and their sons Resolved and Peregrine, who was the first child born in the colony. They eventually settled in Plymouth at the beginning of a bitter first winter that would claim more than half of the population. Edward Winslow was one of the signatures on the historic document. Recognising they needed something in law to allow them to settle in a place they had not expected to find, they drew up the Mayflower Compact - a document that pledged their allegiance to the crown and set out the basis of democracy in the new land. They arrived in Cape Cod in November 1620, many miles from their intended destination. Also in their care was a girl called Elinor More - one of four children from the More family of Shipton in Shropshire who travelled with the Pilgrims. Winslow travelled with his wife Elizabeth, his brother Gilbert plus a servant called George Soule and a youth named Elias Story. It meant that with 102 passengers on board, the Atlantic crossing was extremely arduous and overcrowded. It didn’t work out that way and after a stop in Dartmouth the passengers on the Speedwell transferred to the Mayflower at their last stop, Plymouth. In the summer of 1620, Winslow was among the Pilgrims who sailed from Leiden on the Speedwell, arriving in Southampton to meet the Mayflower, with the intention of both ships sailing to America. He became instrumental in organising the journey to America, helping decide how they would finance the operation with John Carver and Robert Cushman, who we negotiating with merchants in London. He married Elizabeth Barker in 1618, listed as a printer in the marriage records. Winslow helped the Separatists in their underground printing activities and soon became one of the leading members of the group. These Separatists had fled persecution for their religious beliefs and had settled in Leiden, a kind of refuge at the time, and would go on to plan the Mayflower’s historic sailing in search of the New World and a new life. He became an apprentice to a stationer but after a dispute, decided against fulfilling his contract and began to travel in Europe, meeting the exiled English Separatist church in Leiden, Holland, in 1617. It has rare documents and books from around the time of the Mayflower Pilgrims leaving England. The Cathedral Library, once also a school room for King’s School, houses one of the country’s most important collections of medieval books, manuscripts and music. It hangs in the Pilgrim Museum in Plymouth, MA ![]() This education would mark Winslow out in the Pilgrims and be a factor in becoming a leader in their ranks.Ī portrait of Edward Winslow - the only Pilgrim to have a verified portrait, painted in 1651 in London. ![]() He would have studied Grammar, Latin and Greek. ![]() His admission is listed in the Cathedral Library. He was one of ten students championed for a scholarship by the Dean of the Cathedral. Just outside the Centre is a bronze statue of Edward Winslow, depicting the moment he first set foot on land in America.īetween 1606 and April 1611 he studied at the King’s School at nearby Worcester Cathedral. His family were involved in the salt production trade and owned a salt pit - you can trace the long history of salt production at the town’s Heritage and Information Centre, including the Winslow family history. He was born in Worcestershire, in the town of Droitwich Spa in 1595. His skills in diplomacy, writing and politics don’t usually put him in the story books’ limelight.īut his ability to forge friendships with the Native American community, battle in England’s corridors of power and help communicate the Mayflower’s legacy mean he is one of the story’s crucial figures. Edward Winslow often isn’t the most heralded of the Mayflower passengers.
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