Abt 1566 - 1644 (78 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has 8 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.
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Name |
William Brewster |
Prefix |
Elder |
Birth |
Abt 1566 |
Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England |
Gender |
Male |
Death |
10 Apr 1644 |
Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States |
Burial |
13 Apr 1644 |
Burial Hill, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States |
Initiatory (LDS) |
7 Sep 1894 |
SGEOR |
FamilySearch ID |
LH2V-RD6 |
Person ID |
I1079 |
mytree |
Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
Father |
William Brewster, b. 1535, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England d. 10 Aug 1608, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England (Age 73 years) |
Mother |
Mary Smythe, b. 1535, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England d. 17 Apr 1627, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England (Age 92 years) |
Marriage |
1567 |
St. Wilfrid's Church, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England |
Family ID |
F904 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Family |
Mary, b. Abt 1569, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England d. 17 Apr 1627, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States (Age 58 years) |
Marriage |
Bef 1593 |
Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England |
Children |
+ | 1. Jonathan Brewster, b. 12 Aug 1593, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England d. 7 Aug 1659, Norwich, New London, Connecticut, United States (Age 65 years) |
+ | 2. Patience Brewster, b. Abt 1600, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England d. 12 Dec 1634, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States (Age 34 years) |
+ | 3. Fear Brewster, b. Abt 1606, Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England d. 12 Dec 1634, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States (Age 28 years) |
| 4. Son Brewster, b. Abt 1609, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Nederland d. 20 Jun 1609, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Nederland (Age 0 years) |
+ | 5. Love Brewster, b. Abt 1611, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Nederland d. 31 Jan 1650, Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States (Age 39 years) |
| 6. Wrestling Brewster, b. Abt 1614, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Nederland d. 22 May 1627, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States (Age 13 years) |
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Family ID |
F912 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Last Modified |
21 Nov 2024 |
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Event Map |
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| Birth - Abt 1566 - Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England |
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| Marriage - Bef 1593 - Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England |
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| Death - 10 Apr 1644 - Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States |
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| Burial - 13 Apr 1644 - Burial Hill, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States |
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| Initiatory (LDS) - 7 Sep 1894 - SGEOR |
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Notes |
- Mayflower - Pilgrim
SOURCE: Jones, Emma C. Brewster (The Brewster genealogy, 1566-1907)
SOURCE: Robert Charles Anderson, (New England Historic Genealogical Soci e ty, Boston, MA).
SOURCE: Barbara Lambert Merrick, (General Society of Mayflower Descendan t s).
William Brewster was born about 1566, the son of William Brewster. He w a s educated in both Greek and Latin and spent some time at Cambridge Uni ve rsity, although he never completed a full degree. He went into the ser vic e of William Davison, then Secretary of State, while his father bac k hom e maintained a position as the postmaster of Scrooby, Nottinghamshi re. Un der Davison, Brewster first traveled to the Netherlands. After Dav ison wa s removed as Secretary of State by Queen Elizabeth, Brewster work ed himse lf into his father's postmaster duties and maintained Scrooby Ma nor. Brew ster was instrumental in establishing a Separatist church wit h Richard Cl yfton, and they often held their meetings in the Manor house . Brewster an d the others were eventually found and forced out, and flee ing prosecutio n and persecution they headed to Amsterdam in 1608, and mo ved to Leiden , Holland in 1609. Brewster became the church's Elder, resp onsible for se eing that the congregation's members carried themselves pr operly, both he lping and admonishing them when necessary.
In Leiden, Brewster working with Thomas Brewer, Edward Winslow, and othe r s, began working a printing press and publishing religious books and pa mp hlets that were then illegally conveyed into England. Brewster also em plo yed himself teaching University of Leiden students English. By 1618 , th e English authorities were onto him and his printing press, and ha d the D utch authorities in pursuit of him. Thomas Brewer was arrested an d held i n the University of Leiden's prison, but Brewster managed to eva de the au thorities and went into hiding for a couple years.
When the Leiden church congregation decided to send the first wave of se t tlers to establish a colony that everyone could eventually move to, the i r pastor John Robinson decided to remain behind in Leiden with the majo ri ty of the congregation, intending to come later. The smaller group tha t w ent on the Mayflower desired the next highest ranking church official , El der Brewster, to go with them; so he agreed. He brought his wife Mar y an d two youngest children, Love and Wrestling, on the Mayflower with h im.
Brewster continued his work as Church Elder throughout his life at Plymo u th Colony. His wife Mary died in 1627, and he never remarried. He live d t o be nearly 80 years old, dying in 1644. His estate inventory lists t he t itles of several hundred books that he owned. Shortly after he died , Will iam Bradford wrote a short but concise biography of Brewster in hi s histo ry of Plymouth Plantation, though he erroneously filed it under 1 643 inst ead of 1644.
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